Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express train from Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station on the second day of his visit to Kerala. This is Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given a grand welcome on his arrival in the Kerala capital on Tuesday. He is here to attend various programmes and launch a number of projects, including flagging off the Vande Bharat Express.
He was received at the Thiruvananthapuram airport by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Thiruvananthapuram MP and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. His journey from here to the railway station was like a roadshow, as thousands of people queued up on the side of the roads for hours to welcome him. People also showered flowers on his convoy.
PM Modi flagged off the train from Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station at 10.30 am. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor were also present along with PM Modi while interacting with students inside the train.
The children also showed modi paintings of the Prime Minister and Vande Bharat Express. The train will connect the state capital with Kerala’s north Kasaragod district. It has been projected by many as an alternative to silverline, the ambitious semi-high speed rail corridor of the state’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
Vande Bharat Train will cover 11 districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod. Vande Bharat Express is an indigenously built, semi-high-speed, self-propelled train set.
The train has state-of-the-art passenger amenities, which provide faster, more comfortable and more convenient travel experience to the passengers.