PM Modi To Flag Off Second Vande Bharat Express From Varanasi To New Delhi On 17 December

Catering to the increasing demand of passengers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the second Vande Bharat Express from Varanasi to New Delhi on 17 December.

Besides Vande Bharat Express, the Prime Minister will also flag off Tamil Sangamam train from Varanasi to Kanyakumari.

The first Vande Bharat Express between New Delhi and Varanasi was launched by PM Modi on 15 February 2019. Since then 34 Vande Bharat trains have been operational in the country.

However, the second Vande Bharat train will be consisting of 8 coaches while the first one is a 16-coach train running with maximum occupancy since its inaugural run. While one Vande Bharat Express will run in the morning, the other will be operational in the evening.

Till now only the Trivandrum-Kasaragod route has two Vande Bharat trains.

Both Trivandrum-Kasargod and New Delhi-Varanasi are running with over 100 per cent occupancy rate.

Barring Northeast, almost all states with electrified routes are having Vande Bharat services.

Manufactured at ICF Chennai, the semi-high-speed Vande Bharat train is equipped with modern amenities.

Apart from ICF, Vande Bharat trains are also to be manufactured at RCF Kapurthala and MCF Raebareli. There will be a total of 500 Vande Bharat trains out of which 75 will have seating arrangement and the rest will have sleeper facility. Currently, all Vande Bharat trains are having seating arrangement.

According to the plan, as India marks its 100 years of Independence in 2047, the Indian rail network is anticipated to have about 4500 operational Vande Bharat trains.