Jammu, Aug 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday flagged off the much-awaited Katra-Amritsar Vande Bharat Express train virtually from Bengaluru in Karnataka along with two other trains, asserting that these train services would “benefit lakhs of devotees and promote tourism.”
The newly launched train service, connecting two religious destinations (holy cities of Katra and Amritsar), will cover a 370 km distance in 5 hours and 40 minutes.
Besides, PM Modi also flagged off two more Vande Bharat Express trains from KSR Railway Station, Bengaluru.
These included trains from Bengaluru to Belagavi and Nagpur (Ajni) to Pune.
While flagging them off, the PM stated that these high-speed trains would significantly enhance regional connectivity, reduce travel time, and provide a world-class travel experience for passengers.
He said that these services would benefit lakhs of devotees and promote tourism.
PM Modi congratulated the people of Bengaluru, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, and the entire nation for these projects and the new Vande Bharat trains.
Significantly, this becomes the fifth Vande Bharat train which will run in J&K, presently all plying from Katra.
Already, two Vande Bharat Express trains run between New Delhi and Katra.
Besides, two other Vande Bharat Express trains were launched by the PM in June this year.
They run from Katra to Srinagar and vice versa.
Once the expansion work of Jammu Railway Station gets completed, they will operate from Jammu to Srinagar and from Srinagar to Jammu.
The new Vande Bharat train will run between Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Railway Station of Jammu Division of Northern Railway and Amritsar Railway Station of Ferozepur Division via Jammu-Pathankot-Jalandhar Vyas.
This Vande Bharat Train will run six days a week except on Tuesday.
According to Uchit Singhal, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (DCM), Jammu (Railway) Division, this Vande Bharat – Train No 26406 – will run from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra to Amritsar Railway Station, and Train No 26405 will run from Amritsar Railway Station to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra.
Train No 26407 (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-Amritsar train) will depart from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra at 6:40 am and reach Amritsar at 12:20 pm.
On the way, it will stop at stations like Jammu, Pathankot Cantonment, Jalandhar City, and Vyas.
Similarly, Train No 26405 (Amritsar-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra train) will depart from Amritsar at 4:25 pm and reach Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra at 10 pm.
This train, on the way, will halt at railway stations like Vyas, Jalandhar City, Pathankot Cantt, and Jammu.
Singhal says that this Vande Bharat train will benefit the passengers going to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, a holy place for Hindus due to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.
Through the train service, the passengers can visit Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and return to their station in less time.
At Bengaluru, the Prime Minister on Sunday also inaugurated the Yellow Line of Bangalore Metro worth around Rs 7160 crore and laid the foundation stone of Bangalore Metro Phase-3 project worth over Rs 15,610 crore.
Senior DCM, Jammu Railway Division informed that Katra-Amritsar Vande Bharat Express, along with two other trains flagged off by the Prime Minister earlier during the day, encompassed modern coach features such as air conditioning with automatic temperature control; comfortably designed seats; individual infotainment screens, LED and ambient lighting; automatic sliding doors and large panoramic windows, for the convenience of passengers.
“Eco-conscious bio-vacuum toilets are also incorporated in the design. From a safety point of view, these new trains are equipped with Kavach system, an advanced collision-avoidance technology, a comprehensive fire detection and suppression system, CCTV surveillance throughout the train and an intercom system in each coach for emergency communication,” Singhal stated.
Apart from this, Katra-Amritsar Vande Bharat Express and the other two trains, according to Singhal, also have a regenerative braking system, which saves up to 30 percent energy, and a dual suspension system, which ensures a comfortable journey even at high speeds.
