Mumbai: The Gandhinagar-Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express which connects Maharashtra and Gujarat with a high-speed and luxurious travel facility will now be halting at Borivali station.
Minister of Gujarat State for Railways, Darshana Jardosh confirmed the development on her official Twitter handle on Saturday. Also, the train will now run all days of the week except Wednesday.
Asked about the date of the Borivali halt being implemented, a senior Western Railway (WR) official said, “We are waiting for an official notification from the competent authority.”
According to the official, the Vande Bharat Express, which was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sept 30, 2022, has been running with an average of more than 125% occupancy due to its immense popularity and positive response from passengers. The 16-coach train has a seating capacity of 1,128 passengers.
The official further stated that the popularity of Vande Bharat has not affected the occupancy of other trains that are plying between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. “The Vande Bharat train is supplementing the demand of passengers travelling on this route, while the Shatabdi Express is also running at full capacity,” said the official.
According to a WR officer, the majority of passengers using the Vande Bharat Express were earlier either travelling by road or plane. “However, adding the new train has also reduced the waiting list of the Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express,” the officer added.
The fully air-conditioned Vande Bharat Express train comprises 16 coaches. All coaches of this self-propelled train boast stainless steel-bodied cars and European-style comfortable seating, as well as on-board hotspot Wi-Fi for entertainment. In addition, the lighting inside the coaches is personal for every seat and diffused for general illumination.
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