Podanur, March 11 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday flagged off two Amrit Bharat Express trains, two Express trains and a passenger train from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu and another passenger train from Ernakulum in Kerala.

The new train services will collectively benefit millions of passengers across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, and Jharkhand. The occasion will also see the inauguration of three redeveloped Amrit Stations in Kerala and the dedication of the Shoranur-Nilambur Railway Line electrification project to the nation.

There is a city in Tamil Nadu where two railway stations stand barely six kilometres apart, yet until now, neither could offer its people a direct train to the mineral heart...