The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off Gandhinagar- Mumbai Vande Bharat Express at Gandhinagar station and travelled on the train from there to Kalupur Railway Station.

PM Modi is on a two-day visit to Gujarat. This is the third Vande Bharat train in the country, the other two being run between New Delhi – Varanasi and New Delhi – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra.

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Modi inspected the train coaches of the Vande Bharat Express 2.0 and took stock of the onboard facilities. He also inspected the control centre of the locomotive engine of Vande Bharat Express 2.0.

The Prime Minister then flagged off the new & upgraded version of Vande Bharat Express between Gandhinagar and Mumbai and travelled on the train from there to Kalupur Railway Station.

After the ceremony, he interacted with his co-passengers including those from the family members of Railways staff, women entrepreneurs and researchers and youngsters.

The train will boost connectivity between the two business hubs of India and will enable business owners from Gujarat to travel to Mumbai and vice versa without bearing the brunt of high-cost airline tickets while availing facilities that are available on air.

According to PMO, “One-way travel time of Vande Bharat Express 2.0 from Gandhinagar to Mumbai is estimated at around 6-7 hours.

The Vande Bharat Express 2.0 offers a myriad of superior and aircraft-like travelling experiences.

It is equipped with advanced state-of-the-art safety features including an indigenously developed Train Collision Avoidance System – KAVACH.

Besides, Vande Bharat 2.0 will be equipped with features such as reaching the speed of 0 to 100 kilometres per hour in just 52 seconds, and a maximum speed up to 180 kilometres per hour.

It will also have a Wi-Fi content on-demand facility. Every coach is equipped with 32” screens providing passenger information and infotainment compared to 24” in the previous version.

Vande Bharat Express is also going to be environment friendly as the ACs will be 15 per cent more energy efficient.

With dust-free clean air cooling of the traction motor, the travel will become more comfortable. Side recliner seat facility which was provided only to Executive Class passengers earlier will now be made available for all classes. Executive Coaches have the added feature of 180-degree rotating seats

In the new design of Vande Bharat Express, a photo-catalytic ultraviolet air purification system is installed in the Roof-Mounted Package Unit (RMPU) for air purification.

As recommended by Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Chandigarh, this system is designed and installed on both ends of RMPU to filter and clean the air free from germs, bacteria, viruses etc. coming through fresh air and return air.