Vande Bharat Express rake in Tirunelveli, ready for trial run

Trial run to be conducted on Friday; this is second Vande Bharat train allotted to run between cities in Tamil Nadu after the Coimbatore train

Vande Bharat Express rake from Chennai Egmore at Madurai junction on Thursday, September 21, 2023 on the way to Tirunelveli. | Photo Credit: G. Moorthy

Empty rake of Tirunelveli-Chennai Egmore-Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Express arrived at Tirunelveli on Thursday, September 21, 2023 ahead of its inaugural run on Sunday.

The trial run of the empty rake would be taken up on Friday as per the scheduled timing of Train No. 20666/20665 Tirunelveli-Chennai Egmore-Tirunelveli Vande Bharat.

Empty rake of Tirunelveli-Chennai Egmore-Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Express arrived at Madurai on September 21, 2023 ahead of its inaugural run on September 24 | Video Credit: G. Moorthy

This is the second Vande Bharat Express allotted by Indian Railway for destinations inside Tamil Nadu after the Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the new train through video conference mode and the train will start its maiden journey from Tirunelveli towards Chennai Egmore at 12.30 p.m. on Sunday.

The train will be given reception at various railway stations enroute such as Kovilpatti, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Dindigul, Tiruchi, Ariyalur, Vriddhachalam and Villupuram.

The train will run on all days except Tuesday. It will leave Tirunelveli at 6 a.m. and reach Chennai Egmore at 1.50 p.m. It will stop at Virudhunagar (7.13 a.m.), Madurai (7.50 a.m.), Dindigul (8.40 a.m.), Tiruchi (9.50 a.m.) and Villupuram (11.54 a.m.) and Tambaram (1.13 p.m.).

In the return direction, the train will leave Chennai Egmore at 2.50 p.m. and reach Tirunelveli at 10.40 p.m. It will stop at Tambaram (3.18 p.m.), Villupuram (4.39 p.m.), Tiruchi (6.40 p.m.), Dindigul (7.56 p.m.), Madurai (8.40 p.m.) and Virudhunagar (9.13 p.m.).

The train will take 7.50 hours to cross the 652.49 km at an average speed of 83.30 kmph.