At approximately 10:40 a.m., the Prime Minister personally flagged off the Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat train at Tatanagar Junction Railway Station, while the remaining trains were inaugurated through video conferencing.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi heralded the commencement of Vande Bharat trains along six new pathways from the Tatanagar Junction Railway Station, located in Jharkhand.
The newly introduced services will operate along these routes:
- Tatanagar-Patna
- Brahmapur-Tatanagar
- Rourkela-Howrah
- Deoghar-Varanasi
- Bhagalpur-Howrah
- Gaya-Howrah
While the PM ceremoniously flagged off the Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat train in person at the Tatanagar Junction at approximately 10:40 a.m., the other trains were set in motion through a video conference.
"Six brand-new Vande Bharat trains, alongside projects exceeding Rs 650 crores, expansion of transport links and enhancements to travel services, and thousands of new homes under PMAY-G—I extend my congratulations to the people of Jharkhand for these developments," declared the PM. He emphasized that once, modern progress was confined to select urban centers, but the "Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas" ethos has shifted the national outlook.
"Now, the underprivileged, the Adivasi communities, and Dalits stand at the forefront of our priorities. Women, farmers, and the youth have been given precedence... The entirety of this region will witness a renaissance in growth through the extension of railway services across Eastern India. The railway budget for Jharkhand is Rs 7,000 crores, marking a monumental increase—16-fold—when compared to the budget of a decade ago," he highlighted.
The Prime Minister also remotely inaugurated additional projects worth Rs 660 crores from Ranchi. Among these was the foundation laying of the Madhupur bypass line in Deoghar district, along with the commissioning of the Hazaribag town coaching depot. Additionally, he dedicated the doubling of the Kurkura-Kanaroan line to the nation, an integral segment of the Bondamunda-Ranchi single-line corridor and the Rourkela-Gomoh route encompassing Ranchi, Muri, and Chandrapura stations.
The inclusion of these six new trains expands the Vande Bharat fleet from 54 to 60, enabling 120 daily journeys and catering to over 280 districts across 24 states and union territories, as stated by the railway ministry on Saturday.
“These trains will significantly elevate religious tourism in the region by offering a faster mode of travel to sacred destinations such as Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar (Jharkhand), Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Kalighat, and Belur Math in Kolkata (West Bengal), among others. Additionally, vital industries—such as the coal mines in Dhanbad, jute industries in Kolkata, and the iron and steel industries in Durgapur—will experience a substantial uplift,” read an earlier press release from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The railway ministry further elaborated that the original Vande Bharat has evolved into Vande Bharat 2.0, equipped with advanced features like quicker acceleration, state-of-the-art Kavach safety mechanisms, anti-virus technology, and onboard WiFi connectivity.
“With the advent of Vande Bharat Express train services, Indian Railways is poised to transform travel across the nation. These trains not only represent a triumph of the ‘Make in India’ movement but also set new global standards for speed, security, and service,” the ministry underscored.
