Vande Bharat Trains In Maharashtra: The number of Vande Bharat trains plying in Maharashtra increased to eleven as Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off three new services via video link from Ahmedabad on Monday. The new trains will be operated on Nagpur-Secunderabad, Kolhapur-Pune, and Pune-Hubballi routes, officials said.
Until now eight Vande Bharat Express trains were operated on various routes in Maharashtra by the Western Railway and Central Railway. Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat trains are operated by Western Railway, and Mumbai-Madgaon, Mumbai-Solapur, Mumbai-Sainagar Shirdi, Mumbai-Jalna, Nagpur- Raipur, and Nagpur- Bilaspur by the CR.
Swapnil Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer of Central Railway, said Vande Bharat trains on all three new routes are the upgraded 2.0 version of the semi-high speed trains. “Central Railway has presented three more Vande Bharat trains with 21 updates to increase the comfort and safety of passengers,” Nila said.
The eight-coach Pune-Kolhapur and Pune-Hubballi Vande Bharat Express trains will run three days per week, while the 20-coach Nagpur-Securndarabad Vande Bharat train will ply six days a week.
Pune-Hubballi Vande Bharat Express will leave Pune at 16.15 hrs on Monday and reach Hubballi at 23.40 hrs the same day. The Nagpur-Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express will depart Nagpur at 4.15 PM and reach Secunderabad at 11.25 PM the same day, the CR stated.
The Kolhapur-Pune-Kolhapur Vande Bharat Express will run three days per week. Kolhapur-Pune Vande Bharat Express will run every Thursday, Saturday and Monday effective September 19. It will start from Kolhapur at 8.15 AM and reach its destination Pune at 1.30 PM the same day.
Pune-Kolhapur Vande Bharat Express will be operated every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday effective September 18. It will depart from Pune at 2.15 PM and reach Kolhapur at 7.40 PM the same day, the CR stated.
The Kolhapur-Pune-Kolhapur Vande Bharat Express will halt at Miraj, Sangli, Kirloskarwadi, Karad and Satara stations.
The Pune-Hubballi-Pune Vande Bharat Express will also run three days a week on Thursday, Saturday and Monday.
With effect from September 19, the Pune-Hubballi Vande Bharat Express will leave Pune station at 14.15 hrs and reach Hubballi at 22.45 hrs the same day.
Hubballi-Pune Vande Bharat Express will be operated every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from September 18. The train will leave Hubballi at 5 AM and reach Pune at 1.30 PM the same day with scheduled halts at Satara, Sangli, Miraj, Belagavi and Dharwad stations, the Central Railway said.
Nagpur-Secunderabad-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express will run six days a week, except Tuesday, departing from Nagpur at 5 AM on September 19 and reaching Secunderabad at 12.15 PM the same day.
The Secunderabad-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express will also run six days a week, except Tuesday, which will leave Secunderabad at 1 PM and reach Nagpur at 8.20 PM the same day. This train will halt at Sevagram, Chandrapur, Ballarshah, Ramagundam and Kazipet stations.
Earlier in the day, Union minister and Nagpur MP Nitin Gadkari said Vande Bharat Express trains have become very popular among travellers ever since the first service was launched in 2019.
He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for starting a new Vande Bharat Express train from Nagpur.