Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flagged off the Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express, which will cut down the travel time between the Tamil Nadu capital and the western industrial city by more than one hour.
At a function at the Dr MGR Chennai Central Railway Station, PM Modi flagged off the inaugural special, loaded with modern features and passenger amenities. He also interacted with school students on the train.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, TN Governor R N Ravi, Chief Minister M K Stalin and Union Minister of State L Murugan were also present at the event.
This is the second Vande Bharat Express to operate from Chennai after the Chennai-Mysuru Vande Bharat train, inaugurated last year.
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"It is the fastest train between the two cities with a travel time of 5 hours and 50 minutes, saving more than an hour of journey time," an official release said.
The Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express has enhanced passenger safety with the indigenous automatic train protection system 'KAVACH', CCTV cameras in all coaches and automatic sliding doors, the release stated.
Other features include Divyang (differently-abled) friendly washrooms, seat handle numbers in Braille script, modern amenities like LED lights and 360-degree rotatable seats.
