Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday virtually flagged off the Vijayawada-Chennai Vande Bharat Express train, connecting Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
The train, which has seven AC chair cars and one executive chair car, will cover the distance in 6 hours and 40 minutes, said Indian Railway officials. Train no. 20677 Vande Bharat Express will start from MGR Chennai Central at 5.30 a.m. and reach Vijayawada at 12.10 p.m.. Train no. 20678 will start from Vijayawada station at 3.20 p.m. and teach MGR Chennai Central at 10 p.m..
The train, which seats 530 passengers, will run six days a week (no service on Tuesdays) and will halt at Tenali, Ongole, Nellore and Renigunta railway stations in both the directions.
Ticket fare per head (without catering charges) in train no. 20678 is ₹1,135 (AC chair car) and ₹2,280 (executive chair car), said officials of South Central Railway (SCR). Regular operations will begin from September 25 (Monday); bookings are open.
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar attended the launch of the new train at Vijayawada railway station. She distributed flowers to children on the occasion.
Member of Parliament Kesineni Srinivas; Mayor Rayana Bhagyalakshmi; MLAs Vellampalli Srinivas and Malladi Vishnu; Vijayawada Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Narendra A. Patil; Additional DRMs D. Srinivas Rao and M. Srikanth; and railway officers of different wings attended the event.
