The train which covers a distance of around 660 km in about 8 and a half hours, is the second Vande Bharat express from Secunderabad.
PM Modi flagging off Vande Bharat Express at the Secunderabad Railway station. (Screengrab)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express from Secunderabad railway station to Tirupati on Saturday, 8 April, to enable passengers, especially the devotees going to the Tirumala temple to have darshan of Lord Sri Venkateswara Swamy, a shorter journey time.
Before flagging off the train, Modi interacted with school children in the coach.
Half a dozen regular express trains operate between Secunderabad and Tirupati with a journey time of 12 hours. With the launch of Vande Bharat service to Tirupati, the passengers will reach the temple town in 8 hours and 30 minutes.
Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi flagged off Secunderabad-Tirupati #VandeBharatExpress from Secunderabad Railway station.#VandeBharat pic.twitter.com/BxoGqEVpOr
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) April 8, 2023
The eight-coach train (20701) will start at 6 am from the Secunderabad railway station and reach Tirupati by 2.30 pm, covering 660.77 km distance. The average train speed is 77.73 km/hour. On the return journey, the train (20702) will start at 3.15 pm at Tirupati and reach Secunderabad railway station at 11.45 pm.
As many as 530 passengers can travel in the express train. The Vande Bharat train service will be convenient for those travelling from Hyderabad to the spiritual city of Tirupati.
The train service will have halts at Nalgonda, Guntur, Ongole and Nellore stations.
However, the inaugural train service stopped at Nalgonda, Miryalaguda, Piduguralla, Guntur, Tenali, Bapatla, Chirala, Ongole, Nellore and Gudur stations on the day of inauguration.
The Vande Bharat Express chair car (CC) fare from Secunderabad to Tirupati is ₹1,680 while the executive service charges are ₹3,080.
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy and Telangana Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav were present during the launch of Vande Bharat express.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao gave the event a miss.
This is the second Vande Bharat that was launched in Secunderabad. The Prime Minister had virtually launched the first train in the Telugu states between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam on 15 January, 2023 as a Sankranti gift to the Telugu people.
After landing at Begumpet airport, Modi straightway went to Secunderabad railway station where he flagged off the Vande Bharat express from platform number 10.
Tamilisai Soundararajan, Kishan Reddy, Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay and others welcomed Modi.
On behalf of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, Talasani Srinivas Yadav welcomed the Prime Minister at the airport.
The Special Protection Group (SPG), which supervises the security of the Prime Minister, made elaborate security arrangements all along the airport to Secunderabad railway station with the assistance of the city police.
At the railway station, the police allowed passengers only after checking them thoroughly with the help of door-frame metal detectors and hand-held metal detectors.
A three-layered security was provided to check the passengers. The railway officials stopped issuing visitors passes due to security reasons.
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