Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off two Vande Bharat trains from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) during his visit to Mumbai on Friday. This is his second visit to Mumbai in less than a month and comes before the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.
PM Modi will first flag off the Mumbai-Solapur Vande Bharat Express from CSMT in the afternoon. Afterwards, the second semi-high-speed train linking Mumbai to Sainagar Shirdi - a temple town in Ahmednagar - will be flagged off from the same terminus.
With the two trains becoming operational, the number of Vande Bharat Express trains running from Mumbai will increase to three and the count will go up to 10 for the country. The first Vande Bharat train in Maharashtra connected Mumbai with Gujarat's Gandhinagar.
Officials told PTI that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will be present at the function held at CSMT.
The prime minister will also inaugurate two vehicular underpasses at Kurar and Malad and the Vakola-Kurla and MTNL-LBS (Lal Bahadur Shastri) elevated corridor arms on Santacruz-Chembur Link Road. These arms connect the Western Express Highway (WEH) to the Eastern Express Highway (EEH).
The Kurar underpass will help ease traffic on WEH and connect the Malad and Kurar sides of the busy highway. Pedestrians will be able to cross the road with ease and vehicles will move without having to get into the heavy traffic on WEH.
PM Modi will also inaugurate a new campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah (The Saifee Academy) at Marol in suburban Andheri. The institute is focused on protecting the learning traditions and literary culture of the Dawoodi Bohra community.
Meanwhile, Mumbai's chawls have been covered with long white cloths ahead of PM Modi's visit to the state.
