PM Narendra Modi flags off Ranchi-Patna Vande Bharat Express

Ranchi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday flagged off a Vande Bharat Express, which will connect Ranchi to Patna, through video conferencing from Bhopal.

This is the first Vande Bharat Express for both Bihar and Jharkhand. It was among five such trains that the prime minister flagged off from Rani Kamalapati railway station in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

The semi-high-speed train will start its regular run from June 28, and will depart Patna Junction at 7 am and reach Ranchi at 1 pm, covering a distance of 379 km in six hours.

On the return journey, it will start at 4.15 pm from Ranchi and reach Patna Junction at 10.05 pm.

The fastest train on the route at present is the Janshatabdi Express, which takes 7.45 hours to cover the same distance, officials said.

The Vande Bharat Express will run all days of the week except Tuesdays.

The first successful trial run was conducted on June 12, while the second and third trial runs were held on June 18 and June 25, respectively. Of the 379 km run, the 27 km stretch between Sidhwar (Ramgarh) and Sanki (Ranchi) has four tunnels.

Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan said the Vande Bharat train is a milestone in India's technological advancement.

"It is also a symbol of change and under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has become the fifth largest economy in the world... We are demonstrating before the whole world the technological advancements of India," he said.

Union Minister Annapurna Devi and BJP state president Deepak Prakash were among those present at the Ranchi railway station at a special programme that was organised to mark the flagging off.

Around 180 school students were traveling on the train from Ranchi, Chief Public Relations Officer of South Eastern Railway Aditya Choudhary told PTI.

"Several dignitaries were also traveling on the train," he said The other such trains launched by the PM from Bhopal were Rani Kamalapati (Bhopal)-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express, Khajuraho-Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat Express, Madgaon (Goa)-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express, Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express, and Hatia-Patna Vande Bharat Express, an official statement said.