Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off India’s 13th Vande Bharat train on the Chennai-Coimbatore route. With the new train, South India now has two semi-high-speed trains. Earlier, the PM also flagged off India’s 12th Vande Bharat Express on the Secunderabad-Tirupati route. Besides this, the PM also inaugurated the new terminal at the Chennai airport. During his two-day visit, the PM will also dedicate several other projects to aid development in Tamil Nadu.
The train on this route will reduce the travel time between the cities and cover the distance in 5 hours 50 minutes, thereby reducing the travel time by about 1 hour 20 minutes. The semi-high-speed train running at a speed of 130 kmph on the said route will make this possible.
Read also: PM Modi flags off Secunderabad-Tirupati Vande Bharat Express: Route, timings, ticket price
During its journey, the train will start from Coimbatore Junction and pass through Tiruppur, Erode Junction, Salem Junction and MGR Chennai CTL. The journey on this route will start at 6 am and end at 11:50 am in Chennai.
The ticket price for Vande Bharat Express (train number 20643) running between Chennai and Coimbatore is Rs 1365 including catering charges of Rs 308 which is optional, and Rs 2485 for executive class service between the two stations. , which also includes catering charges of Rs.369. When it gets underway, Train No. 20644 Vande Bharat Express will cost Rs 1215 in chair car with catering cost of Rs 157 and Rs 2310 for executive cabin. and 190 in the cost of catering.
Unlike the trains of other lines, which have 16 coaches, the Vande Bharat train plying on this route will have 8 coaches. These trains will comprise of a single executive coach which can seat 530 passengers. The fact that the route sees lesser passenger traffic as compared to others justifies the lesser number of coaches.
BJP leader Vanathi Srinivasan said the train has received overwhelming public support on this route and there is a “huge demand among passengers” ahead of the train’s departure. It claimed that within 30 minutes of the opening of the reservation, every seat on the Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express was taken. Significantly, this is the second semi-high-speed train in the state.