Vande Bharat: Next Train To Leave ICF Chennai On 12 August For Trials, Likely To Be Run On A South India Route From November

In another step towards fulfiling the promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August last year of running 75 Vande Bharat trains in 75 weeks, the third such train will leave the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai on 12 August for trials, sources said on Tuesday (26 July).

The train is likely to be run on a specific route in south India from November this year, the sources added. Interestingly, a report in News18 says Telangana may get India’s next Vande Bharat train.

Railway sources said the operations of the semi-high speed (160-200 kilometre per hour) Vande Bharat trial will be started before August 15.

While it is yet to be confirmed, Modi could flag off the train from Chennai.

The trial of the train will be conducted from Kota in Rajasthan to Nagda section of Madhya Pradesh. The trial speed of the train will be 100 to 180 kmph. After the success of two-three trials, the new Vande Bharat train will be fit to run commercially.

The railways claims that 75 Vande Bharat trains will start running on the tracks by August 15, 2023, in line with Modi's announcement.

The ICF has the capacity to manufacture six to seven Vande Bharat rakes (trains) every month and attempts are on to scale this number to 10.

Apart from this, the Vande Bharat trains will also be manufactured at the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala and the Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareli.

In the new Vande Bharat train, the safety and convenience features for passengers have been improved. The biggest safety addition in the upgraded Vande Bharat trains will be the support of the Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) or Kavach to prevent signal passing at danger (SPAD) cases and unsafe situations arising due to overspeeding and train collisions in station areas.

The other safety features include fire detection alarms in coaches and a fire detection suppression system in cubicles and toilets.

Passengers will also have access to more emergency push buttons and emergency talk-back units through which they can speak to the loco pilot.

The trains will also have a centralised coach monitoring system through which all electrical components and climate control will be monitored on a real-time basis by a designated person.

Following cases of cattle run over causing serious damage to the train exteriors, the new trains will have strengthened fibre reinforced plastic, made from materials used in aircraft.

After getting the customer feedback, the ICF has redesigned the train seats by replacing the sliding reclining seats to aircraft-like reclining seats.

Currently, two Vande Bharat trains are operational, running between Delhi and Katra and Delhi and Varanasi. Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes are being upgraded for running trains at 160 kmph speed.

The Railways is also working on introducing 400 Vande Bharat trains in the next three years, a plan announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget 2022-23 speech.

According to Sudhanshu Mani, former General Manager of Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, and the chief architect of the first Vande Bharat project, the plan could result in an investment of over Rs 50,000 crore into the country’s rolling stock industry.

A Vande Bharat trainset of 16 cars costs Rs 106 crores at 2018 pricing.

The Railways has recently floated a Rs 30,000 crore tender for the manufacturing of 100 upgraded Vande Bharat trainsets with articulated bogie, aluminium body and sleeper facilities to run at a maximum speed of 200 kmph.

(With inputs from PTI)

Also Read: How Indian Railways Can Deliver On Its Promise Of 400 Vande Bharat Trains