Two Vande Bharat Express Trains will be flagged off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an effort to facilitate travel to significant pilgrimage sites like Siddheshwar, Akkalkot, Tuljapur, Pandharpur, Alandi near Pune, Nashik, Trimbakeshwar, Sainagar Shirdi, and Shani Singanapur.
Two Vande Bharat Express Trains will operate, one from Mumbai to Sainagar Shirdi and the other from Mumbai to Solapur.
The Vande Bharat Express Train between Mumbai and Solapur will be the ninth in the nation, and the Vande Bharat Express Train between Mumbai and Sainagar Shirdi will be the tenth.
Since last year, the Indian Railways has started 8 new Vande Bharat Express trains. The moder train is manufactured under under ‘Make in India’ programme and has been a hit amongst the travellers.
The approximate 340 km distance between Mumbai and Shirdi will be covered by this Vande Bharat Express train in 5.25 hours via Mathal Ghat. For a chair car and executive class ticket to travel from Mumbai to Nashik, one should expect to pay between Rs 550 and Rs 1,150. The direct fare for the Mumbai to Sainagar Shirdi Vande Bharat Express ranges from Rs 800 for chair cars to Rs 1,630 for executive class. Trains running on the Vande Bharat Express service use dynamic fair pricing.
Talking the Shirdi route, crores of Sai devotees are expected to get the benefit by the launch of the Mumbai-Shirdi Vande Bharat Express. Every year, more than 2 crore people visit the Sai Nagar Shirdi, out of which more than 50 lakh people go directly to Shirdi from Mumbai.
Many people travel by bus or opt for a private vehicle, but with the launch of Vande Bharat Express, devotees are expected to travel by the particular train.
Currently, eight Vande Bharat Express trains are running on various inter-state routes. Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express train was launched by PM Modi on September 30, 2022.
Mumbai-Solapur Vande Bharat Express Train
The Vande Bharat Express train will start from CST and travel through Dadar, Kalyan, Pune Kurduvadi before reaching the final destination Solapur. The train going from Solapur will connect with famous pilgrimage sites, including Siddheshwar in Solapur, Akkalkot, Tuljapur, Pandharpur near Solapur and Alandi near Pune.
Mumbai-Solapur Vande Bharat Express Train will cover a distance of 400 kms in 06:35 hours. During its journey between CSMT and Solapur, the train is expected to stop at four stations namely Dadar, Kalyan, Pune and Kurduvadi.