At 11 am on Wednesday, prime minister Narendra Modi will flag off Rajasthan’s first Vande Bharat Express, doing so via video conferencing.
Also Read | Vande Bharat trains now operational on 13 routes in India. See full list
The train, said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday, will improve the connectivity of major tourist destinations in Rajasthan, and also provide a boost to the socio-economic development in the region.
Here are 5 facts about Rajasthan’s first Vande Bharat Express:
(1.) The inaugural service will begin its run from Jaipur, and terminate at Delhi Cantt. The regular service, however, will connect Ajmer and Delhi Cantt; it will begin its run on April 13.
(2.) The Ajmer-Delhi Cantt Vande Bharat will stop at Jaipur, Alwar and Gurugram, covering a distance of more than 400 kms in 5 hours 15 minutes; the current fastest train on the route, the Ajmer-New Delhi Shatabdi Express, has an official journey time of 6 hours 15 minutes.
(3.) According to HT’s sister publication Live Hindustan, the train will operate throughout the week, except Wednesday. The official schedule, however, is yet to be announced.
(4.) As per PMO, the Ajmer-Delhi Cantt Vande Bharat will be the world’s first- semi-high speed passenger train on high-rise overhead electric (OHE) territory.
(5.) Launched in Feb 2019, Vande Bharat Express is currently operational on 13 routes. This includes three services launched earlier this month (Bhopal-Hazrat Nizamuddin, Chennai-Coimbatore, and Secunderabad-Tirupati).
