Vande Bharat Expansion: ICF To Roll Out Specialised Vande Bharat Trains For Jammu And Kashmir Region By Next Year

After the success of Vande Bharat Express in establishing fast connectivity between major cities, Chennai's Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has announced its plans to introduce Vande Bharat trains equipped with special facilities for the Jammu and Kashmir region by next year.

With temperature conditions in consideration, the upcoming trains will incorporate heating provisions within their compartments, along with specialised pipes designed to avert the freezing and potential breakage of water lines.

Currently, the semi-high-speed train is operational on the Delhi-Mata Vaishno Devi Katra route within the Jammu province of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to previous announcements, these Vande Bharat trains are planned to operate between Jammu and Srinagar once the construction of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) is concluded.

This initiative is part of ICF's strategy to design and manufacture various versions of the Vande Bharat trains.

B G Mallya, the general manager of ICF stated that the factory aims to produce approximately 3,241 coaches in around 30 different variants this year, reports Economic Times.

Among them are two push-pull trains with LHB coaches, which will provide a similar travel experience to the Vande Bharat trains in the non-AC segments.

"This train will have improved interiors and best-in-class passenger amenities as provided in Vande Bharat trains. A specially designed locomotive will be connected to the train at each end for push pull operation to enable it to travel faster. Two such trains are planned to be rolled out by this year," he added.

Further, as part of the plan, ICF is also set to introduce a sleeper version of the Vande Bharat train for long-distance journeys, a Vande Metro variant catering to intercity short-distance commuters, and a Gati Shakti train designed for swift freight transport within the Vande Bharat platform.

The Gati Shakti train will be used to transport e-commerce goods, fast-moving consumer goods, and refrigerated commodities.

Currently, there are 25 Vande Bharat trains running across the country. An additional four train sets are pending approval to be pressed into service this month.

As per the plan, Vande Bharat trains will soon be introduced on the Patna-Howrah, Kacheguda-Yeshwanthpur, Chennai-Vijayawada, and Chennai-Tirunalveli routes.