Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flagged off the Chennai–Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express from Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Station, in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Governor R.N.Ravi and Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw.
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The train will ply at 130 kmph, allowing Coimbatore-bound passengers to save 1 hour 20 minutes.
This will be the second Vande Bharat train for the State but the first one that will run within Tamil Nadu. The first Vande Bharat express train service is being operated from Chennai-Mysuru via Bengaluru.
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The special inaugural train zoomed past the crowd from Chennai around 4:10 p.m. with stoppages at Perambur, Arakkonam, Gudiyattam, Vaniyambadi, Tirupattur, Morappur, Salem, Erode and Tirupur. But during regular services, the Vande Bharat express between Coimbatore and Chennai would have only three stops at Salem, Erode and Tiruppur. The train service will not be available on Wednesdays. According to details provided by the Railways, the train would start from Coimbatore at 6 a.m. and reach Dr. MGR Central station in Chennai at 11.50 a.m. In the return journey, train would leave Chennai at 2.25 p.m. and reach Coimbatore by 8.15 p.m.
As per the fare card issued by Southern Railway for the Express, the cost for Chennai-Coimbatore would be ₹1365 in Chair car and ₹2490 in the Executive Chair car. The train is expected to benefit students, IT professionals, traders and businessmen, especially from textile and industrial units in and around Coimbatore, Salem, Erode and Tiruppur.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the newly gauge-converted Tiruthraipundi-Agasthiyampalli section by flagging off a Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) service. The 37-km section of new broad gauge has been built at a cost of ₹294 crore.
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The Prime Minister also flagged off a new Tri-weekly Express service between Tambaram and Sengottai. It will provide direct connectivity to Chennai for remote stations in the Delta districts of Tiiruvarur and Thanjavur, and Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district. This will also be the first regular train service from Chennai to Tiruvarur-Karaikudi section.
In a press release, the Southern Railway said the Tambaram-Sengottai train service would be available weekly for two months up to May 29. From June 1, it would be converted to tri-weekly. In the tri-weekly services, the train from Tambaram would be operated on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. In the return journey from Sengottai, it will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
With the Southern Railway taking up speed improvement works, the Vande Bharat Express would complete the journey by five hours and 50 minutes by running at speed of 130-kilometre in the Chennai–Jolarpettai section. The Southern Railway has carried out speed enhancement work for a total of 2,037 kilometres for the financial year 2022-23, with trains reaching a speed of 130 km/hour in the three main sections of Chennai-Renigunta, Arakkonam-Jolarpettai, and Chennai-Gudur. As a result of this, 44 train services had been speeded up.
Several schoolchildren came to the station to see the Express being flagged off. The Prime Minister interacted with students from various schools who were on the train. These students had won a poetry contest and were chosen to travel in this train. Mr. Modi also interacted with students from IIT-Madras, who were on the train.