PM Modi To Launch Kerala’s First Vande Bharat Express On April 25. Check Details Here
On April 24, Modi is expected to visit a party-sponsored meeting with young people in Kochi, where the BJP is also organising a high decibal roadshow for him.
At Thiruvananthapuram Railway Station on April 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch Kerala's first Vande Bharat semi-high-speed train service.
On April 24, Modi is expected to visit a party-sponsored meeting with young people in Kochi, where the BJP is also organising a high decibal roadshow for him.
The Vande Bharat is equipped with 16 contemporary coaches. Kerala would most likely receive two such new trains to provide continuous operation and eliminate the requirement for short turnarounds.
On April 22, railway officials will conduct trial runs on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kannur route. The new service's track expansion and signalling system modernization are approaching completion.
Given the winding and sloping nature of Kerala's railway tracks, Vande Bharat's peak speed would most likely be limited to 110 km/h. According to the railroads, the train may run at speeds of up to 180 km/h.
They called it a "Vishu kaineettam"—a message from the Prime Minister and the Center—to the people of the state. On the day of the harvest festival "Vishu," which occurs on Saturday, April 15, this year, family elders customarily offer gifts, particularly money, to members of the home as "kaineettam."
Locals in Palakkad responded enthusiastically to the unexpected arrival of rakes of the semi-high speed train from Chennai this morning, swarming the station with BJP activists to see it and give it a spectacular welcome.
As part of the celebration, saffron party activists garlanded the train's railroad personnel while offering them sweets. "I am so glad to see that the coaches of an express train like Vande Bharat are arriving in my state. I am in my late 70s, and I am so happy to know that I can travel in an express train in Kerala soon," an elated elderly man informed reporters at Palakkad railway station.
The new Vande Bharat Express, according to state BJP president K Surendran and union minister V Muraleedharan, was PM Modi's "Vishu Kaineettam" to the state's residents.
Surendran also blasted their political rivals in a Facebook post. "Those who have been making fun of (us) over Vande Bharat are now lamenting that they have not been informed about its arrival," he said.
He also called it "childish" to claim that the famous train was brought to the state just for the impending Lok Sabha elections.
Muraleedharan expressed similar thoughts, saying that the Prime Minister has finally spoken to those who questioned the introduction of the Vande Bharat Express in Kerala, and congratulated Modi and the railway minister for allocating it to the southern state.
He told reporters here that the semi-high-speed train will help Kerala's growth.
In a jab at the state administration of Pinarayi Vijayan over the delayed Silver Line project, he claimed the Centre does not deliver development by evicting tens of thousands of people.
"The state government is trying to implement the Silver Line by evicting thousands of people. But, the Centre is bringing Vande Bharat for the smooth journey of everyone without causing any difficulty to anyone," he was quoted by PTI in its report.
K-Rail, a joint venture of the Kerala government and the Ministry of Railways, intended to create the Silver Line project, which was to encompass a 530-kilometer line from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod.
The semi-high-speed rail line was supposed to include 11 stops and would cost roughly Rs 64,000 crore to build.
The massive project, also known as K-Rail, was opposed by political groups such as the Congress and the BJP, as well as local residents in various sections of the state.
(With Inputs From PTI)
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