As per various media reports, Indian Railways is working to start the Goa-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express in the first week of June. In fact, a Times of India report suggests that the Vande Bharat Express running on the Sundar Konkan Railway is expected to be flagged off on June 3, 2023. It is expected that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the semi-high. Speed train, first for Goa and fourth for Mumbai. However, there is no official confirmation from the Ministry of Railways nor is PM Modi traveling to either of the two places.
In all likelihood, PM Modi will virtually flag off the Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat Express like the previous two flag offs including the Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat train recently. The trial run of the Made-in-India train has started between Madgaon in Goa and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST) in Mumbai.
The Goa-Mumbai route is well connected by the Indian Railways, with most express trains taking up to 9 hours to travel between the two stations. However, the new Vande Bharat Express is likely to transform travel between India’s financial capital, Mumbai, and tourism hub, Goa, by reducing travel time by at least a few hours.
Goa-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express: Route
The total length of the Goa-Mumbai rail route is around 550 km and the journey takes the train through rivers, valleys and mountains, making it one of the most scenic journeys in India. Passing through Ratnagiri, Panvel, Thane among other stations en route, the train is expected to cover the distance in less than 7 hours. Vande Bharat will be the fastest train on the Mumbai-Goa route.
Vande Bharat Express: Route
As of now, 18 Vande Bharat Express trains are running in India, three of which are from Mumbai – one each for Gandhinagar, Shirdi and Solapur. This will be the fourth train from the financial capital of India. On the other hand, Delhi has got six Vande Bharat Express, the highest in the country, connecting Dehradun, Ajmer, Varanasi, Katra, Bhopal and Amb Andaura.
Two pairs of Vande Bharat trains are running from Chennai to Mysuru and Coimbatore. Vande Bharat is also operational on Bilaspur-Nagpur, Howrah-New Jalpaiguri, Secunderabad-Tirupati, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod routes.