Puri: The operation of Vande Bharat Express trains will be extended till Puri, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed during his visit to the Pilgrim Town on Thursday.
During his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that 75 Vande Bharat Express trains will connect various parts of the country by 2023.
The Railway Minister said these trains will connect every corner of the country in 75 weeks of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
Vaishnaw along with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan arrived in the Odisha capital this morning and then headed for Puri to pay obeisance to the Lords.
“Puri is one of the popular tourist and religious destinations in the world and assumes rich cultural significance. Development of Puri station is underway and bringing Vande Bharat Express to Puri is also on the cards,” he said.
Vaishaw said that PM Modi has entrusted a huge responsibility to them by allotting seven portfolios to BJP leaders from Odisha. These portfolios – education, IT, tribal affairs, water resources – touch the life of 4.5 crore people of the state.
“This shows his commitment to the development of Odisha,” he added.
VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS
It is a Shatabdi-type train with premium aircraft-style comforts, including LED diffused lighting and wide luggage racks. It has European-style comfortable seats in hues of golden, violet and pink.
The semi high speed also has onboard infotainment and GPS based passenger information system, CCTV, automatic sliding doors with retractable coach footsteps and zero discharge vacuum-based bio-toilets.
On the exterior front, the new train looks like a bullet train, with an aerodynamic conical-shaped driver cabin. A cattle guard has also been installed in the front to prevent derailment in case of cattle run.
At present, two Vande Bharat Express trains are being run between Varanasi and New Delhi and Katra and New Delhi.
According to media reports, indigenous semi-high speed train set, also known as Train 18, is being given a boost with the Railways gearing to roll out at least 10 of them, linking around 40 cities by August 2022.
