Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flagged off two Amrit Bharat and six Vande Bharat Express trains from the redeveloped Ayodhya Dham Railway Station during his visit to the temple town, amid the festive air in Ayodhya and the euphoria around the consecration of the grand Ram Temple on January 22 next year.
Amrit Bharat is a new category of superfast passenger trains, equipped with the LHB push-pull feature. However, these trains come with non-air-conditioned coaches.
About two Amrit Bharat, six Vande Bharat trains
Amrit Bharat train has locos at both ends for better acceleration. It provides improved facilities for rail passengers, like beautifully designed seats, better luggage racks, mobile charging points with suitable mobile holders, LED lights, CCTV, and a public information system, among others.
The new Amrit Bharat trains that will ply as Darbhanga-Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal Amrit Bharat Express and Malda Town-Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminus (Bengaluru) Amrit Bharat Express.
The Vande Bharat Express trains were flagged off include Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express; Amritsar-Delhi Vande Bharat Express; Coimbatore-Bangalore Cantt Vande Bharat Express; Mangalore-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express; Jalna-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express and Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal Vande Bharat Express.
The PM also dedicated to the nation three railway projects worth ₹2,300 crore to strengthen rail infrastructure in the region. The projects include the Rooma Chakeri-Chanderi third line project; Jaunpur-Tulsi Nagar, Akbarpur-Ayodhya, Sohawal-Patranga and Safdarganj-Rasauli sections of the Jaunpur-Ayodhya-Barabanki doubling project; and doubling and electrification project of the Malhaur-Daliganj railway section.
About Jalna-Mumbai Vande Bharat
Modi virtually flagged off the inaugural run of the Jalna-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express. The Central Railway said in a release on Friday that the PM would virtually flag off the 8-coach service while addressing a function at the redeveloped Ayodhya Dham railway station in Uttar Pradesh.
In its inaugural run, the 02705 Jalna-Mumbai Vande Bharat train will tentatively depart from the city in the Marathwada region at 11am and will arrive in the metropolis at 6:45pm.
The train will halt at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, formerly Aurangabad, at 11:55am, Manmad Junction at 1:44 pm, Nasik Road at 2:44pm, Kalyan Junction at 5.06pm, Thane at 5.28pm and Dadar at 5.50pm before proceeding to CSMT in Mumbai.
In its regular run from January 1, the train will leave CSMT at 1:10pm and reach Jalna at 8:30pm, while from January 2, it will depart from Jalna at 5:05am and reach CSMT at11:55am.