Chennai, April 9 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flagged off the Vande Bharat express train between Chennai-Coimbatore at the MGR Chennai Central Station.

The PM invoked Goddess Bhagyalakshmi — after whom he had referred to Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar at the BJP national executive meeting in July last year — as he flagged off the Vande Bharat train, linking the “city of Bhagyalakshmi temple (Hyderabad) with the city of Lord Venkateswara (Tirupati)” in Andhra Pradesh in the morning.
Goddess Bhagyalakshmi is the presiding deity of a makeshift temple abutting the Charminar and BJP has hinted at renaming Hyderabad after her, if the party comes to office in Telangana. In his public address after inaugurating the train service, he said: “Vande Bharat Express represents a convergence of faith, modernity, technology and tourism.” The new train will reduce the travel time between Secunderabad and Tirupati by three-and-a-half hours.
Before the flag-off, Modi boarded the train stationed at platform 10 of Secunderabad station and briefly interacted with schoolchildren, who were on the inaugural journey.

The PM also laid the foundation of Secunderabad railway station’s redevelopment project. Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union culture and tourism minister G Kishan Reddy were among those present. The PM later flew to the Tamil Nadu capital, where he flagged off the Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat service at MGR Chennai Central Railway Station around 4.20pm.