Prime Minister to flag off two Vande Bharat Express trains from Visakhapatnam on March 12

PM Modi to virtually flag off two new Vande Bharat Express trains connecting Visakhapatnam with Puri and Secunderabad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually flag off two new Vande Bharat express trains, one between Visakhapatnam and Puri and the other between Visakhapatnam and Secunderabad, on Tuesday (March 12).

The Prime Minister will also launch a slew of developmental projects across Waltair Division of East Coast Railway (ECoR).

Giving details to the media on Monday evening, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Saurabh Prasad said Waltair Division got its first Vande Bharat Express on January 15, 2023 between Visakhapatnam and Secunderabad. The train was a runaway hit with more than 100% occupancy. The second Vande Bharat Express between Visakhapatnam and Secunderabad which would be flagged off on Tuesday will be a welcome addition on the busy route, he said.

The Prime Minister would virtually flag off the Visakhapatnam–Puri Vande Bharat Express. This would be the first originating train from Visakhapatnam to Puri. It would also provide a convenient alternative to people going to Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Palasa and also to tourists coming from Puri to Visakhapatnam.

In addition to these two Vande Bharat trains, the completed portions of two doubling projects in Kothavalasa-Koraput sections and Koraput- Rayagada lines, completed portions of Vizianagaram- Titlagarh third line project, a goods shed constructed at Dumuriput in Koraput and 16 One Station One Product (OSOP) stalls across the Division would be dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister.

The DRM said that 25,871 km of track has been laid in the last nine years over the Division. Of the doubling work taken up on a 445-km stretch on the Kottavalasa–Kirandul line, work has been completed on a 288-km portion.

“Waltair Division was the first to provide rail coach restaurants in Andhra Pradesh, and also the first to do so in Odisha. The Rail Coach Restaurant in Vizianagaram would be dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister. The Ministry of Railways had launched the One Station One Product (OSOP) scheme with the objective of promoting ‘Vocal for Local’ vision of the Government of India to provide a market for local, indigenous products and increase the income of the marginalised sections of society,” the DRM said.