The maximum speed of the Bhopal-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express reached 161 kilometres per hour during its launch run on Saturday, breaching its expected speed limit of 160 kmph, officials said.

The train that cuts the travel time between Bhopal and New Delhi by an hour, touched the speed of 161 kmph between Raja ki Mandi in Agra and Mathura, they added.

A small stretch of the track between the Agra Cantonment and Nizamuddin railway stations has been designed in a manner to fit the speed limit.

Earlier, the Ministry of Railways had said in an order that the Rani Kamalapati-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express train can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph over the Agra Cantonment-Tuglakabad section.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the 11th Vande Bharat Express train on Saturday.

The semi-high speed train was flagged off from the Rani Kamalapati railway station in Bhopal in the afternoon in the presence of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

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