PM Modi to flag off Goa-Mumbai Vande Bharat train virtually on Saturday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday morning virtually flag off the inaugural run of the Goa-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express from Madgaon railway station, officials said.

It will be the 19th semi-high speed Vande Bharat train in the country; a fourth train to run from Mumbai and a fifth one to run from Maharashtra.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will be among those present for the function at the Madgaon railway station.

The prime minister will show the green flag through video link to the train around 10.45 am and the train is likely to reach Mumbai around 6.30 pm, railway officials said here.

The Vande Bharat train on the Mumbai-Goa route will have eight coaches unlike the usual 16 coaches. Presently, 16-coach Vande Bharat trains ply on CSMT (Mumbai)-Sainagar Shirdi, CSMT-Solapur and Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad routes, while another train runs between Nagpur and Bilaspur.

The regular service of the Mumbai-Goa train is expected to start from the next week. It will run six days a week except on Friday, railway officials said.

Though its regular timetable has not been released, the train is likely to depart from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai at 5.25 am and reach Madgaon at 1.15 pm, they said. The train will depart from Madgaon on the same day at 2.35 pm and reach CSMT at 10.25 pm. It is likely to halt at seven stations: Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Khed, Ratnagiri, Kankawali and Thivim.

During a trial between CSMT and Madgaon on May 16, the train had covered the distance in around seven hours.