Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took a ride on the Vande Bharat Express
from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
The Union Minister said it was the first time she boarded the
semi-high-speed train since its launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
September 2022.
Taking to social media platform X, Sitharaman said, “Taking a ride on Vande
Bharat from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram. Vande Bharat was introduced by PM Narendra
Modi in September 2022. It is after a year that I have the opportunity to
travel to one of them. Being popular, the train runs fully booked. Well done Rail
Ministry India.”
Earlier in September this year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant
Dubey took a ride on the Howrah-Patna Vande Bharat Express train.
Dubey was accompanied by fellow party MP SS Ahluwalia and Chief Public
Relations Officer, Eastern Railway, Kaushik Mitra during the indigenous train’s
maiden journey.
The first Vande Bharat Express which was flagged off by the Prime
Minister, ran between New Delhi and Varanasi.
Manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory or ICF in Chennai, the train
set symbolises the ‘Make-In-India’ initiative and showcases India’s engineering
prowess.
The project to manufacture indigenous semi-high-speed train sets began in
mid-2017, and within 18 months, the ICF Chennai completed Train-18.
India’s first semi-high-speed train was renamed Vande Bharat Express in
January 2019 to emphasize its made-in-India status. The train achieved a
maximum speed of 180 kmph on the Kota-Sawai Madhopur section.
ANI
