Thiruvananthapuram, April 21 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express at Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station at 10.30 am on April 25.

The Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express will run between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod. The train will cover 11 Districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod, a release said.

The Prime Minister will also dedicate the Kochi water metro to the nation. This one of its kind project connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with Kochi city.

Apart from Kochi Water Metro, rail electrification of Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation, development projects worth more than Rs 3200 crore, at Thiruvananthapuram Central Stadium, here at 11 am.

During the event, Prime Minister will also lay the foundation of various rail projects including redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section.

Apart from this, Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram. Digital Science Park is envisaged as a key research facility to develop digital products and services by industry and business units in collaboration with the academia.

As a third generation Science Park, the Digital Science Park will house common facilities to support development of products in the area of Industry 4.0 Technologies like AI, Data Analytics, Cyber Security, Smart Materials etc.

The state of the art basic infrastructure will support high end applied research by industries and co-development of products in association with the Universities. Initial investment for Phase-1 of the project is around Rs. 200 crore while the total project outlay has been estimated at around Rs 1515 crore.

UNI DS SSP