Jalna-Mumbai Vande Bharat launch on Dec 30, to cover distance in record time | Deets inside

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on December 30, will flag off the inaugural run of the Jalna-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express through video link.

An official release from the Central Railways said that PM Modi will virtually flag off the 8-coach service while addressing a function at the redeveloped Ayodhya Dham railway station in Uttar Pradesh. He will also flag off two Amrit Bharat and five other Vande Bharat services between different cities.

In its inaugural run, the 02705 Jalna-Mumbai Vande Bharat train will tentatively depart from the Marathwada city at 11 am and will arrive in the metropolis at 6:45 pm.

“The train will halt at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) at 11:55 am, Manmad Junction at 1:44 pm, Nasik Road at 2:44 pm, Kalyan Junction at 5.06 pm, Thane at 5.28 pm and Dadar at 5.50 pm before proceeding to CSMT,” the release said. 

In its regular run from January 1, the train will leave CSMT at 1:10 pm and reach Jalna at 8:30 pm. On January 2, it will depart from Jalna at 5:05am and reach CSMT at11:55 am.

Notably, the Central Railway has not released details of the fare structure of the new service, which will run on all days except Wednesday.

Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Neeti Sarkar of Nanded division of which Jalna is a part, said during a press conference that the service will connect important cities like Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna and Nashik to areas like Thane and Mumbai.

"It will boost visits to sites like the Rajur Ganapati Temple in Jalna, Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga along with Ajanta and Ellora Caves in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Shirdi near Manmad. The train, with 530 seats, will take 6 hours 50 minutes to cover the distance, which will be of great convenience to people," Sarkar said.

While Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has MSME hubs as well as the upcoming AURIC industrial city, Jalna has a thriving steel sector.

About the new train, Sarkar said it has a "black box" like those in aircraft which will record the activity in the driver's cab. “It will be vital for probes into any untoward incident, including accidents,” she said. 

Moreover, she revealed that the train will have one Executive Chair Car and seven Chair Cars.

The upcoming train is Maharashtra's seventh Vande Bharat service, six of which are operated on the CR network. Besides, it will be the fifth Vande Bharat service to run from Mumbai.