Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flagged off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express train from Thiruvananthapuram. The train will run from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod.
Here are 10 facts about the big story:
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The Vande Bharat train will cover 11 districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod.
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The train has being touted by many as an alternative to the ruling Left Democratic Front government’s ambitious semi-high speed rail corridor – SilverLine.
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Vande Bharat Express is an indigenously manufactured, semi-high-speed, self-propelled train set. The train has state-of-the-art passenger amenities, providing passengers with a faster, more comfortable and more convenient travel experience.
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PM Modi will inaugurate several other projects in Kerala, including the Kochi Water Metro, a one-of-its-kind project that connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with the city.
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After PM Modi landed at the Thiruvananthapuram airport today, his journey to the Central Railway Station was akin to a roadshow as thousands lined up on the roadsides, hours in advance, to greet him and showered him with flowers as his cavalcade passed them.
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PM Modi is visiting the southern state amidst the BJP’s massive minority outreach programme which apparently has evoked a positive response from a section of priests of various Christian denominations.
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The party leaders’ recent visit to Christian families and their breakfast meetings with some priests in the community are being viewed as part of their efforts to reach out to minorities ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
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BJP believes that PM Modi’s visit would give an impetus to their ongoing campaign and kickstart the party’s propaganda for the general election.
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The Prime Minister held a mega roadshow in Kochi yesterday, markedly different from his other roadshows.
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PM Modi got out of his car and began the roadshow on foot, just days after a letter threatening a suicide bomb attack on him had the Kerala police and central agencies on alert.