With one Vande Bharat already operational since April and two more in the pipeline along with the Delhi-Mumbai expressway all set for inauguration in the state, Madhya Pradesh is getting an infrastructure push ahead of assembly polls slated for later this year.
On April 1, a Vande Bharat train between Rani Kamalapati railway station and Delhi was inaugurated. Two more Vande Bharat trains are expected to be launched later this month from Bhopal – one for Indore and another for Jabalpur.
Speaking to News18, a railway official said that these new Vande Bharat trains are expected to launch in the last week of June.
“The Prime Minister will be inaugurating five pairs of Vande Bharat trains in the last week of June. Two of these will be from Bhopal,” the official said, requesting anonymity. On being asked if approaching the assembly polls had anything to do with the two trains for the state, he said “no”.
Growing in number
With these launches, Madhya Pradesh will have three pairs of these semi-high-speed trains. Currently, 18 pairs of Vande Bharat trains are operational. Delhi has the highest number, six pairs, followed by Maharashtra with four. Next in line is West Bengal which has three pairs of the Vande Bharat.
After the launch of these new trains, Madhya Pradesh will have three sets of the Vande Bharat Express.
Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also connected with three pairs of the Vande Bharat but they are not dedicated trains for these states.
While there is no dedicated Vande Bharat train for Haryana, out of three, only one is dedicated for Uttar Pradesh while the other two have stoppages only.
Further, with the Bhopal-Indore and Bhopal-Jabalpur trains, Madhya Pradesh will be added to the list of states that have intra-state Vande Bharat trains.
Maharashtra was the first state in India to get intra-state Vande Bharat trains – Mumbai-Shirdi and Mumbai-Solapur. So far, apart from Maharashtra, only Tamil Nadu and Kerala have intra-state Vande Bharats.
Better roads too
Not just trains, but better roads and an expressway are also almost ready for Madhya Pradesh.
The state is a part of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway with a 244-km stretch passing through the Mandsaur, Ratlam, and Jhabua districts covering major cities including Garoth, Jaora, Ratlam, and Thandla.
Speaking to News18, an official from the ministry of road transport and highways said that there are nine packages of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway passing through Madhya Pradesh and these are “almost completed”.
“The work is almost completed. The finishing touch is left. This expressway will be launched next month or in August,” the official added.
Once completed, the Delhi-Mumbai expressway will enhance Madhya Pradesh’s direct connectivity to the national capital, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
Not just this, but the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is undertaking projects worth around Rs 25,000 crore in the state for around 8,000 km of roads.
Assembly polls are likely to be held in the state around November to elect 230 legislators.
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