New Delhi:

The much-anticipated Vande Metro has been officially renamed as “Namo Bharat Rapid Rail” by Indian Railways. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the country’s first Namo Bharat Rapid Rail service in Gujarat today, a day before his birthday.

The Namo Bharat Rapid Rail will connect Bhuj, located in Gujarat’s Kutch district, with Ahmedabad, one of the state’s largest cities, covering a distance of 360 kilometres in just under six hours.

The train is capable of running at a maximum speed of 110 kilometres per hour and will make multiple stops, including at key stations such as Anjar, Gandhidham, Bhachau, Samakhiali, Halvad, Dhrangadhra, Viramgam, Chandlodiya, Sabarmati, and finally Kalupur in Ahmedabad.

Operating six days a week, the service will be closed on Saturdays for Bhuj departures and on Sundays for Ahmedabad departures. The train departs Bhuj at 5:05 am, arriving in Ahmedabad at 10:50 am The return journey from Ahmedabad leaves at 5:30 pm, reaching Bhuj by 11:20 pm.

The train can accommodate up to 2,058 standing passengers and has seating arrangements for 1,150 passengers, featuring cushioned sofas for added comfort. The fully air-conditioned metro is equipped with modern amenities, including automatic sliding doors and engines on both ends, differentiating it from the Vande Bharat Express by offering features typically seen in suburban metro services.

The minimum fare is set at Rs 30, inclusive of GST, with a one-way trip from Bhuj to Ahmedabad expected to cost around Rs 430, excluding GST. For frequent travellers, weekly, fortnightly, and monthly season tickets will be available, offering substantial savings equivalent to Rs 7, Rs 15, and Rs 20 per single journey, respectively.

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.