PM Modi flags off six Vande Bharat trains

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, virtually flagged off six Vande Bharat trains for Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, at Ranchi.

The new trains will run on the Tatanagar-Patna, Brahmapur-Tatanagar, Rourkela-Howrah, Deoghar-Varanasi, Bhagalpur-Howrah, and Gaya-Howrah routes.

The prime minister was scheduled to flag off the trains from Tatanagar but his chopper could not take off due to poor visibility owing to rains.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Jharkhand Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar were present at Tatanagar station.

The trains will offer faster connectivity, the prime minister's office said in a statement.

The new Vande Bharat Express trains are expected to benefit regular travellers, professionals, business, and student communities, and boost religious tourism.

"These trains will boost religious tourism in the region by providing faster mode of commute to the pilgrimage sites like Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar (Jharkhand), Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Kalighat, Belur Math in Kolkata (West Bengal) etc. Apart from this, Coal Mines industries in Dhanbad, Jute industries in Kolkata, Iron & Steel allied industries in Durgapur will also get a major boost," a government release had stated.

"The Vande Bharat Portfolio is ever-expanding with new train services being added for enhanced connectivity..."Indigenously designed under the 'Make in India' initiative, it offers cutting-edge features delivering luxury and efficiency to millions of passengers,” the PMO statement had read.

Meanwhile, PM Modi's roadshow in Jamshedpur of Jharkhand was cancelled owing to heavy rains.

Modi was expected to address a massive rally organised by the BJP in Jamshedpur and attend another roadshow.