Vande Bharat Sleepers to be launched once second train arrives by Oct 15: Vaishnaw
New Delhi (PTI): Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said the Vande Bharat Sleeper trains will be launched once the second train is ready for regular service.
One train is ready for launch at Shakur Basti Coaching Depot in Delhi after undergoing necessary trials and testing, according to officials.
Briefing the media, Vaishnaw said that the second train is being manufactured and will possibly be ready by October 15, 2025.
"Both the trains will be launched together," he said.
The minister emphasised that the second train is important to maintain the continuity of regular services.
"That's why we are waiting for a second rake. Once we get it, we will decide any route and start operations," Vaishnaw added.
Speculation is rife that the trains will be launched between New Delhi and Patna as Bihar is going to polls by the end of the year.
Vaishnaw, along with Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, briefed the media on the status of the existing and upcoming railway projects in Punjab.
They said the upcoming 18-kilometre Rajpura-Mohali line will connect the area to Chandigarh via the shortest route on the Ambala-Amritsar main line.
Besides providing direct connectivity between Rajpura and Mohali and reducing travel distance by approximately 66 kilometres, the rail link will also ease traffic on the existing Rajpura-Ambala route and shorten the Ambala-Morinda link.
Vaishnaw said the Railway Ministry has also proposed to launch a new Vande Bharat train between New Delhi and Firozpur Cantonment, which will cover the Faridkot, Bhatinda (W), Dhuri, Patiala, Ambala Cantonment, Kurukshetra and Panipat stations.
According to the Railways, the train will cover a distance of 486 kilometres between Delhi and Firozpur Cantonment in 6 hours and 40 minutes.
"I will request the Prime Minister to approve the Firozpur-Delhi Vande Bharat train," Vaishnaw said.
The ministers shared nine important railway projects that were commissioned after 2014.
These include the new Nangal Dam-Daulat Pur Chowk line (61 kilometres, Rs 672 crore), and the doubling of Chakki Bank-Bharoli line (3 kilometres, Rs 15 crore), Jakhal-Mansa line (45 kilometres, Rs 163 crore), JUC-SuchiPind line (4 kilometres, Rs 24 crore), Ambala-Chandigarh line (45 kilometres, Rs 338 crore), Mansa-Bhatinda line (49 kilometres, Rs 216 crore), Amritsar-Chheharta line (7 kilometres, Rs 31 crore), Jalandhar-Jammu Tawi line (211 kilometres, Rs 850 crore) and Rajpura-Bathinda line (173 kilometres, Rs 2,459 crore).
They also introduced seven railway projects under execution.
These include Nangal Dam-Talwara new line (123 kilometres, Rs 2,018 crore), Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri new line (63 kilometres, Rs 6,753 crore), and Ferozpur-Patti new line (26 kilometres, Rs 300 crore), and the doubling of Mansa-Bhatinda line (80 kilometres, Rs 449 crore), Ludhiana-Kila Raipur line (17 kilometres, Rs 238 crore), Ludhiana-Mullanpur line (21 kilometres, Rs 295 crore) and Alal-Himmatana line (13 kilometres, Rs 174 crore).
Vaishnaw said 30 stations are being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat station redevelopment scheme.
Highlighting achievements in the trains' running schedules, Vaishnaw said that 29 rail divisions -- including Malda, Mysore, Sialdah, Nagpur and Trivandrum -- have achieved 90 per cent punctuality.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
