Boosting Religious Tourism : Mumbai To Shirdi, Solapur Vande Bharat Trains To Be Flagged Off On 10 February

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off two Vande Bharat trains from Mumbai on 10 February.

The two Vande Bharat (VB) trains will be introduced on the Solapur and Sainagar Shirdi routes starting from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).

The new trains will boost rail connectivity to important pilgrimage centres in Maharashtra.

Mumbai-Solapur Vande Bharat

Mumbai-Solapur Vande Bharat Train will be the ninth Vande Bharat Train in the country.

The train will cover a distance of around 455 km between the two places in 6.35 hours, while halting at Dadar, Kalyan, Pune and Kurduwadi stations.

The new train will improve facilitate travel to important pilgrimage centres like Siddheshwar in Solapur, Akkalkot, Tuljapur, Pandharpur near Solapur and Alandi near Pune. 

Mumbai-Shirdi Vande Bharat

It will cover a distance of around 340 km between CSMT and Shirdi in 5 hours and 20 minutes, with stops at Dadar, Thane and Nashik Road stations.

The new train will improve connectivity to important pilgrimage centres in Maharashtra like Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple in Nashik, Sainagar Shirdi and Shani Singanapur in Ahmednagar.

Eight Vande Bharat Express Trains launched so far

Currently, eight Vande Bharat Express trains are running across the country.

These include Varanasi-New Delhi, Katra-New Delhi, Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar, New Delhi-Amb Andaura, Chennai-Mysuru, Bilaspur-Nagpur and Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat trains.

The Vande Bharat trains that are being introduced for Shirdi and Solapur will be the second version of the premium semi-high-speed train.

VB 2.0 is equipped with more advancements and improved features such as reaching a speed of 0 to 100 kmph in just 52 seconds, and a maximum speed of up to 180 kmph.