The Indian Railways is working to launch the Goa-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express in the first week of June, as per various media reports. In fact, a report on Times Of India suggests that the Vande Bharat Express, which will run on the scenic Konkan Railways is expected to be flagged off on June 3, 2023. It’s expected that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the semi-high speed train, a first for Goa and fourth for Mumbai. However, there is no official confirmation from the Ministry of Railways and neither PM Modi is travelling to either of the places.
In all likelihood, PM Modi will virtually flag off the Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat Express, like the previous two flag offs, including the recent Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Train. The trial for the Made-in-India train has already started between Madgaon in Goa and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja Terminus (CST) in Mumbai.
The Goa-Mumbai route is well connected by the Indian Railways, with most express trains taking upto 9 hours to travel time between the two stations. However, the new Vande Bharat Express is likely to transform the journey between India’s financial capital, Mumbai, and the tourism hub, Goa, by reducing the travel time by at least a couple of hours.
Goa-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express: Route
The total length of the Goa-Mumbai rail route is approximately 550 km and the journey takes the train through rivers, valleys and mountains, making it one of the most scenic journey in India. The train is expected to cover the distance in under 7 hours, passing through Ratnagiri, Panvel, Thane among other stations on the route. The Vande Bharat will be the fastest train on the Mumbai-Goa route.
Vande Bharat Express: Routes
So far, 18 Vande Bharat Express trains are operating in India, three of which are from Mumbai –- one each for Gandhinagar, Shirdi and Solapur. This will be the fourth train from the India’s financial capital. On the other hand, Delhi has got six Vande Bharat Express, highest in the country, connecting Dehradun, Ajmer, Varanasi, Katra, Bhopal, and Amb Andaura.
Two pairs of Vande Bharats are operating from Chennai for Mysuru and Coimbatore. Vande Bharat is also operational on the Bilaspur-Nagpur, Howrah-New Jalpaiguri, Secunderabad-Tirupati, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, and Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod routes.
