PM Modi to flag off Goa-Mumbai Vande Bharat train virtually tomorrow

As reported by PTI, this train marks the 19th semi-high-speed Vande Bharat train in India, the fourth one to operate from Mumbai, and the fifth to operate from Maharashtra.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will be in attendance at the event taking place at Madgaon railway station. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remotely signal the start of the train’s journey at around 10:45 am, while the train is expected to arrive in Mumbai at approximately 6:30 pm, according to railway officials.

In contrast to the standard 16-coach configuration, the Vande Bharat train operating on the Mumbai-Goa route will consist of eight coaches. Currently, the 16-coach Vande Bharat trains are deployed on the CSMT (Mumbai)-Sainagar Shirdi, CSMT-Solapur, Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad routes, and there is another train running between Nagpur and Bilaspur.

The regular service of the Mumbai-Goa train is expected to start from the next week. It will run six days a week except on Friday, railway officials said. Though its regular timetable has not been released, the train is likely to depart from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai at 5.25 am and reach Madgaon at 1.15 pm, they said.

On the day of its departure, the train will leave Madgaon at 2:35 pm and arrive at CSMT (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) at 10:25 pm. It is expected to make stops at seven stations along the way, including Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Khed, Ratnagiri, Kankawali, and Thivim. During a trial run conducted on May 16, the train completed the journey between CSMT and Madgaon in approximately seven hours.

Earlier on 29 May, PM Modi flagged off Assam’s first Vande Bharat Express train through video conferencing. The new service will cover the distance of 411 km between Guwahati and New Jalpaiguri in 5 hours 30 minutes reducing the present shortest journey time by the speediest train significantly.

(With inputs from PTI)

Updated: 02 Jun 2023, 07:18 AM IST