In a bid to main train travel experience even better for people, Railways is set to boost the number of Vande Bharat trains in the country. The national transporter has planned to launch 10 new Vande Bharat trains by Independence Day next year. These Vande Bharat trains, which will be flagged off in August 2022, will connect 40 cities in India.
Note that currently, the operational Vande Bharat trains run from Delhi to Varanasi and Delhi to Katra. Newly appointed Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has reviewed the Vande Bharat project and has directed the officials in charge to increase the pace of the project. Reports suggest that the Minister also urged that project upgradation should be visible in the country’s railway services.
A Hyderabad-based engineering firm – Medha – has reportedly been told to push the production plan of the project, so that at least two prototypes can be launched by March 2021. Earlier this year in January, the Railways had awarded Rs 2,211 crore contract of designing and manufacturing of propulsion, control, and other equipment for making 44 rakes of Vande Bharat-type train sets to Hyderabad-based Medha Servo Drives Pvt. Ltd.
The Ministry has apparently mentioned in the contract that the first prototype train should be able to complete one lakh kilometres of commercial run with passengers, before moving ahead with the production of other trains. The trains could take months to hit the tracks commercially. Remember that earlier, the plan was to launch the first set of prototype trains by December 2022 or early 2023.
For the uninitiated, Vande Bharat is a self-operated train that does not require an engine to haul, this is known as the distributed traction power. This design of trains, known as electric multiple unit (EMU) trains, has become increasingly popular since their introduction. Many world-famous high-speed trains are EMU train designs, like the Japanese Shinkansen, the Italian Pendolino and the German ICE 3 trains.
As per several media reports, the upgraded train will have automatic doors, airline-like seating, and other features for the comfort zone of passengers.
