PM Modi to flag off 3 Vande Bharat trains, inaugurate Bengaluru Metro Yellow Line today

Bengaluru, Aug 10 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today flag off three new Vande Bharat Express trains from Bengaluru’s KSR Railway Station at 11:00 a.m., further accelerating the expansion of India’s high-speed rail network.

The highlight of the ceremony will be the Bengaluru–Belagavi Vande Bharat Express, Karnataka’s 11th such service, alongside the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra–Amritsar and Ajni (Nagpur)–Pune trains, which will be inaugurated virtually.

Covering the 611-km Bengaluru–Belagavi stretch in just 8.5 hours, the new service will cut travel time by about 1 hour 20 minutes on the onward journey and 1 hour 40 minutes on the return.

The route links Bengaluru’s technology hub with Belagavi, home to leading medical and engineering institutions, and passes through Dharwad, Hubballi, Haveri, Davangere, and Tumakuru.

Officials say the train will benefit students, professionals, farmers, and traders while boosting regional economic growth.

Following the launch, a special inaugural service (Train No. 06575) will depart from KSR Bengaluru at 11:15 a.m. and arrive in Belagavi at 8:00 p.m., making stops at Yesvantpur, Tumakuru, Davangere, SMM Haveri, SSS Hubballi, and Dharwad.

Later, at around 1 pm, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Yellow Line of the Bangalore Metro’s Phase-2 project from RV Road (Ragigudda) to Bommasandra, covering over 19 km with 16 stations at a cost of Rs 7,160 crore.

With this addition, the operational metro network in Bengaluru will expand to over 96 km.

He will also lay the foundation stone for the Bangalore Metro Phase-3 project, worth over Rs 15,610 crore, which will add more than 44 km of elevated tracks across 31 stations.

The expansion aims to serve Bengaluru’s growing residential, industrial, commercial, and educational hubs.