Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the state's first Vande Bharat Express train here on Tuesday, the second day of his two-day visit to Kerala.
Thiruvananthapuram: On the second day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kerala, the Vande Bharat Express train was flagged off from Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station. This is the first Vande Bharat Express of the state. Earlier on Monday, PM Modi took part in a mega road show in Kochi. Wearing the traditional dress of Kerala, PM Modi initially did a roadshow on foot. A huge crowd gathered on both sides of the road to see the PM. After the road show, PM addressed the youth in the Yuvam 2023 program of Sacred Heart College.
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 lined up along the roads hours in advance 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. Before flagging off the Vande Bharat Express from platform number one of the railway station, he interacted with a group of school children inside a coach of the train. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor were also present with PM Modi while interacting with the students inside the train.
During this, the children also showed PM Modi the paintings of Prime Minister and Vande Bharat Express made by him. When PM Modi was flagging off the train, a large number of people gathered on the platform in the opposite direction as well.
The Vande Bharat Express will connect the state capital with the northern Kasaragod district of Kerala. It has been touted by many as an alternative to the state’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s ambitious semi-high speed rail corridor, Silverline.
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, providing a faster, more comfortable and more convenient travel experience to passengers.
