Tamil Nadu's second inter-city Vande Bharat express connects Chennai to southern parts

One among the nine Vande Bharat services that were flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, the Tirunelveli-Madurai-Chennai service is the first such train to connect the southern parts with the state capital.

The train will run six days a week-- except Tuesday, and will cover the 653-km distance in 7.50 hours, according to Southern Railway.

From Tirunelveli, it will leave daily at 6 am, while the train will depart from here at 2:50 pm towards the southern city.

The stoppages are Virudhunagar, Madurai, Dindigul, Tiruchirappalli and Villupuram junctions, besides Tambaram, before arriving at Chennai Egmore.

The service is expected to give a boost to tourism in the Tirunelveli-Madurai sector and help professionals, including businessmen.

The first intra-state Vande Bharat service was flagged off by the Prime Minister in April this year, and it runs between the western industrial city of Coimbatore and Chennai, covering about 500 km in 5.50 hours.