Karnataka is set to get another Vande Bharat train, this time on the Kacheguda – Bengaluru route, along with two more trains being assigned to serve in South India, which are from Secunderabad in Telangana to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and Pune in Maharashtra, news agency PTI reported.
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are all set for assembly polls.
South India got its first Vande Bharat train along the Mysuru – Bengaluru – Chennai route, which was flagged off by prime minister Narendra Modi in November. Another Vande Bharat train has been proposed by the South Western Railway (SWR) between Bengaluru and Hubbali in Karnataka.
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Even as the Vande Bharat trains has received praise from several quarters because of its speed, comfort and “airplane-like” features, they have also been in controversies after several cattle-related accidents and stone pelting incidents.
READ | Vande Bharat on Mysuru-Bengaluru-Chennai route hits calf, suffers dent: Report
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 15 flagged off the first Vande Bharat Express of this year connecting Telangana’s Secunderabad and Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam. This is the eighth Vande Bharat Express of the country has been running with 100 per cent occupancy since its launch.
The Railway department aims to run 75 Vande Bharat trains by the end of the year and 400 over the next three years. The Vande Bharat Express trains are semi-high speed and are made under the centre’s flagship Make-in-India initiative.
(With inputs from PTI)
