Why in news?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off south India’s first Vande Bharat Express train, connecting Mysuru and Chennai via Bengaluru, at KSR Railway Station in Bengaluru

Highlights

• This is the fifth Vande Bharat Express train in the country.
• It will enhance connectivity between the industrial hub of Chennai, the Tech & Startup hub of Bengaluru and the famous tourist city of Mysuru

About Vande Bharath express

• It is previously known as Train 18,is a semi-high-speed, electric multiple unit train operated by the Indian Railways
• Designed and manufactured: The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at Perambur, Chennai under the Make in India initiative.
• Launch date : 15 February 2019
• Predecessor: Shatabdi Express
• First Service route: New Delhi to Varanasi.
• It will outpace the Shatabdi Express by its speed

In service:

• New Delhi – Varanasi
• New Delhi – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra
• Mumbai Central – Gandhinagar Capital
• New Delhi – Amb Andaura
• MGR Chennai Central – Mysuru Junction

‘Bharat Gaurav Kashi Darshan’ train.

• Under policy of Railways, the train is operated by Karnataka’s Muzrai Department.
• Karnataka is the first state to take up this train under this scheme
• Parent organization : Government of Karnataka and the Ministry of Railways
• Objective: To send pilgrims from Karnataka to Kashi.
• Pilgrimage sites : Tulsi Manas Temple, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the Sankat Mochan in Varanasi, the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, the Saryu Ghat and the Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya, and the Hanuman Temple and the Ganga-Yamuna Sangam in Prayagraj

Bharath Gaurav train

• It is intiative under “Deko Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism
• Nature: Theme-based tourist circuit trains
• objective of this theme is to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places to the people of India and the world,
• Maiden Service: Coimbatore North to Sainagar Shirdi
• Southern Railways is the first to get registered service under this scheme