New Delhi:

Five people have been arrested for allegedly throwing stones at the Vande Bharat Express train during its trial run in Chhattisgarh, officials said today. The train, scheduled to run from Chhattisgarh’s Durg to Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam, was set to be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

The stones were pelted on the Vande Bharat train at the Bagbahara railway station while it was returning from Visakhapatnam Friday morning, officials said.

No injuries were reported but the multi-layered windows of three coaches of the train were damaged.

The accused, identified as Shiv Kumar Baghel, Devendra Kumar, Jeetu Pandey, Sonwani, and Arjun Yadav, broke the windows of three coaches of the train, C2-10, C4-1, C9-78, officials said.

A case has been filed against the accused — residents of Bagbahara — under the Railways Act, 1989.

Besides Durg to Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat train, PM Modi is scheduled to flag off India’s first Vande Metro from Gujarat’s Bhuj to Ahmedabad and the first 20-coach Vande Bharat train from Varanasi to Delhi on Monday.

He will also launch Vande Bharat trains on the following routes – Tatanagar to Patna, Nagpur to Secunderabad, Kolhapur to Pune, Agra Cantt to Banaras, and Pune to Hubballi.

Raipur (Chhattisgarh):

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said that passengers are not in favour of using Vande Bharat express trains due to the high fares of the tickets adding that passenger trains are shutting down on constant basis.

Speaking to reporters in Raipur, Bhupesh Baghel said,” Passengers are not using these trains because the fares are high. The majority of the public uses passenger trains but they are getting shut down. The PM is inaugurating railway corridors but it is not for the people, it is for ‘dropping’ coal.”    

He further questioned the motive behind the flagging off of trains by the Prime Minister and said, “The Railway Minister has no work. He is only sent when there is an accident.”

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off nine Vande Bharat Express trains, and said that the speed and scale of infrastructure development are matching with aspirations of 140 crore Indians.

The new trains are Udaipur – Jaipur Vande Bharat Express, Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express, Hyderabad –Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express, Vijayawada – Chennai (via Renigunta) Vande Bharat Express, Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express, Kasaragod – Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express, Rourkela – Bhubaneswar – Puri Vande Bharat Express, Ranchi – Howrah Vande Bharat Express and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express.

These Vande Bharat trains will be the fastest trains along the routes of their operation and will help save considerable time for the passengers.

Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement said that the introduction of these Vande Bharat trains will herald a new standard of rail service in the country.

“These trains, equipped with world-class amenities and advanced safety features, including Kavach technology, will be a key step towards providing modern, speedy and comfortable means of travel to common people, professionals, businessmen, student community and tourists,” the statement said.     

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Kerala is set to receive its second Vande Bharat Express train on September 24, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate nine Vande Bharat trains. The first orange-coloured Vande Bharat Express will run on the Kasaragod-Trivandrum route. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted a video on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, with the caption ‘Vande Bharat in new shades, coming soon to Kerala.’

#VandeBharat in new shades, soon in Kerala. pic.twitter.com/MbtRwtsLkd

— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) September 22, 2023

Last month, the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai unveiled the first Orange-gray Vande Bharat Express train. According to Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, the new colour of the 28th rake of the indigenous train is ‘inspired by the Indian Tricolour’. 

In July, the minister inspected the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai and reviewed safety measures in Southern Railways. Mr Vaishnaw also assessed improvements in the Vande Bharat Express.

The new trains that will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are:

• Udaipur – Jaipur Vande Bharat Express
• Tirunelveli-Madurai-Chennai Vande Bharat Express
• Hyderabad – Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express
• Vijayawada – Chennai (via Renigunta) Vande Bharat Express
• Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express
• Kasaragod – Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express
• Rourkela – Bhubaneswar – Puri Vande Bharat Express
• Ranchi – Howrah Vande Bharat Express
• Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express

These nine trains will enhance connectivity across eleven states: Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Gujarat. They will be the fastest on their respective routes, significantly reducing travel time for passengers.

The Vande Bharat Express services will save significant time compared to the current fastest trains on their respective routes:

• Rourkela-Bhubaneswar-Puri Vande Bharat Express and Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express will be approximately three hours faster.
• Hyderabad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express will reduce travel time by over two and a half hours.
• Tirunelveli-Madurai-Chennai Vande Bharat Express will shorten the journey by more than two hours.
• Ranchi-Howrah Vande Bharat Express, Patna-Howrah Vande Bharat Express, and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express will save about one hour.
• Udaipur-Jaipur Vande Bharat Express will reduce travel time by about half an hour.