Kochi: Trial run for the semi high speed Vande Bharat began today morning at 5.10 am when it left Thiruvananthapuram for Kannur.
The train will reach the destination at 12.30 pm.
The train will make its return trip without any delay. The train will be flagged off by the Prime Minister on April 25 at Thiruvananthapuram.
Preparing for the Lok Sabha polls, the train is likely to give much mileage to the BJP. With Left government’s RS 63,000 crore K-Rail project nowhere in the scene, Vande Bharat is likely to help the saffron party to harvest gains.
The 16 rakes train would have stops at Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam Town, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode and Kannur.
Despite having achieved a maximum speed of 180 kms per hour, Vande Bharat Express, is presently limited to 160 km per hour. Speed varies on different routes like the one on Delhi-Bhopal route where it is 110 to 130 km per hour.
Its maiden service was started on February 15, 2019 with facilities of Economy Class and Premium rotatable seats. WiFi, infotainment system, Automatic doors, smoke alarms, CCTV cameras, odour control system are some of its attractions. The cost of the train is about ₹115 crore.
VB begins trial run
