With an average speed of 75 kmph, Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat will be the fastest train between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Madgaon, covering the distance of 586 km in 7 hrs 50 mins both ways.
For the inauguration on Saturday, the train will have seven commercial stops at Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Khed, Ratnagiri, Kankavli and Thivim. The train will also have a technical halt at Roha, where boarding and deboarding will not be permitted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually flag off this train at around 11 am. With this, the total number of Vande Bharat trains operating in India will reach 19.
According to official documents, during the non-monsoon period, this eight-coach train will start from CSMT at 5.25 am and reach Madgaon at 1.15 pm. In return it will leave Madgaon at 2.35 pm and reach CSMT at 10.25 pm.
The ministry said that the speed of the train will be up to 120 kmph.
“The sectional speed will be 105 kmph on CSMT-Diva section and 110 kmph on Diva-Roha. Both of these come under Central Railway. On the Roha-Madgaon section of Konkan Railway, the sectional speed will be 120 kmph,” the ministry said.
It will work six days a week except Friday. A ministry official said the train took about seven hours during the trial run, while the commercial run would take a little longer.
“There is a lot of congestion on this Mumbai-Goa route. Even special trains have to be arranged. But this fully AC train will help a lot in reducing the load. Goa is a tourist destination while Mumbai is a commercial hub. The train has been a long-pending demand and will help in reducing the passenger load on this route,” a ministry official told News18, seeking anonymity.
With the flagging off of this train, Mumbai will now have four Vande Bharat trains: one each for Gandhinagar, Shirdi, Solapur and Madgaon. This will be the fifth Vande Bharat for Maharashtra – A train is running on the Nagpur-Bilaspur route. This is also the first Vande Bharat for Goa.
From April 1, the ministry has geared up for the production and delivery of these semi-high-speed Made-in-India trains. At least eight pairs of Vande Bharat trains have been inaugurated in this two-month period.