"People of Kerala thankful to PM Modi for Vande Bharat": MoS Muraleedharan

New Delhi [India], April 19 : Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Tuesday said people of Kerala are thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing Vande Bharat train service for Kerala.

"The people of Kerala are thankful to PM Narendra Modi as well as the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for announcing this high-speed train for Kerala which will definitely improve the pace of development in Kerala. On 25 April, the PM is visiting Kerala and the flag-off will happen that day - that is the information we have..."

"The train will originate from Kasaragod which is the northernmost tipoff of Kerala to the capital city of Trivandrum at the southernmost tip. So the Vande Bharat will cover a distance of 600 km in 8 hours which means that people of Kerala will be able to travel across the state in 8 hours." He added.

"The demand for a high-speed train for Kerala has now been fulfilled. Prime Minister takes special care of Kerala. Under PM Narendra Modi's leadership, the Centre is taking all efforts for the development of Kerala," Muraleedharan said on April 14.

At that time taking a dig at the Pinarayi Vijayan government Muraleedharan said "When there is a high-speed train, why should people give up their lands in the name of the SilverLine project? It has become irrelevant," he said.

The rakes of the Vande Bharat train, which will be run by the Southern Railways, reached Palakkad on April 14 morning. The Indian Railway successfully completed the trial run of Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur on April 17. The trial run started from Thiruvananthapuram railway station at 5:10 am and reached Kannur at 12:30 pm.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to flag off the Vande Bharat train service during his visit to Kerala later this month.