Passengers who travelled on the inaugural Vande Bharat Express from Secunderabad to Tirupati were awestruck at the state-of-the-art facilities available on the train.
J. Venkataiah from Hyderabad, a regular visitor to Tirupati, said he never imagined it would take so little time to reach Lord Venkateswara’s abode. “Of course, I had read about this high-speed train. But, I never thought travelling at high speed would be such a smooth ride. There was no sudden jerk,” he said after reaching Tirupati.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the latest edition of the indigenously-made high-speed train at Secunderabad railway station on April 8 (Saturday) morning. The train reached Tirupati late at night. Many political leaders boarded en route to cheer the passengers.
Schedule and halts
The Vande Bharat Express started its regular service from Tirupati on April 9 and from Secunderabad the next day. As per the schedule, the 20702 Tirupati – Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express will start from Tirupati at 3.15 p.m. to reach Secunderabad by 11.45 p.m. On the return journey, train no. 20701 will start from Secunderabad at 6 a.m. and reach Tirupati at 2. 30 p.m. The train will make halts at Nalgonda, Guntur, Ongole and Nellore stations in both the directions.
With a seating capacity of 530, the train has seven air-conditioned chair car coaches and an executive AC chair car coach. The high-speed train is expected to serve those travelling on urgent needs such as office tours, business purposes, and short-duration trips. The inaugural train ran with 120% occupancy, with nearly 50 passengers cancelling their journey owing to the waiting list. The first day’s revenue was pegged at ₹9.34 lakh.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy, who travelled by this train, appreciated the convenient timing. He lauded the railways for maintaining punctuality. Guntakal Railway Divisional Manager Venkataramana Reddy, Senior Commercial Manager Prasanth Kumar, and Tirupati Station Director K. Satyanarayana accorded Mr. Jawahar Reddy a warm farewell during his return journey on April 9 (Sunday).
