The Vande Bharat train is equipped with many features like GPS-based passenger information system, bio-vacuum toilets, and rotational seats, which can be aligned in the direction of travel in executive class.
Cutting down train travel time between two destinations, these trains are here to write a new chapter in the history of the Railways.
Speed! Thrill! Adventurous train journey! A perfect example of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. A new dawn in the history of comfortable and safer train journey experience!
Well! No words can describe the aura of the majestically beautiful, all new Vande Bharat Express Trains.
The train journeys are one of the most memorable journeys in a person’s life. They are the ones which are cherished lifelong by anyone.
Providing the rail passengers with a class apart train travel experience has always been the utmost aim and vision of the Indian Railways. In this direction, the introduction of Vande Bharat Express, a semi-high speed train, is a perfect example of the Railway Ministry’s concern.
Vande Bharat train, a niche product of Indian Railways, is all set to connect majority of the big and small cities across the country, with Railways unveiling its plan to ramp up its production of trainsets in the coming financial year rapidly.
According to the plan, there would be a total of 900 Vande Bharat trains in the next three-four years.
With the introduction of the New Vande Bharat Express Trains, the Railways have achieved a leap towards taking the train journeys to newer heights.
These trains, well-equipped with the latest and advanced technologies, is expected to provide one of the best-in-class train travel experiences.
Having the capacity of achieving the speed of 160 kmph in just zero to 52 seconds, the train has taken travel experience to newer heights.
Cutting down train travel time between two destinations, these trains are here to write a new chapter in the history of the Railways.
The fully air-conditioned trains are well-equipped with all the latest and modern technologies. The recliner seats help have a more relaxed and comfortable journey.
Besides this, the trains are fitted with LCD TVs that not only provide you with all the travel-related necessary information; but, also gives you a perfect dose of ‘Entertainment on the go’.
When it comes to the facilities, then the trains are Divyangjan-friendly too! In order to help the differently-abled passengers, the trains have smooth ramps that help them board and deboard the trains with ease and hassle-free. Also for enabling the visually-impaired Divyangjan, the trains’ seat numbers are engraved with the Braille scripts.
In order to popularise the Vande Bharat Express, Indian Railways has now introduced the popular board game “Snakes and Ladders”, to amuse the travellers onboard, during the journey.
The board game was introduced in two Vande Bharat trains launched from Mumbai to Shirdi and Solapur to begin with, and is likely to be replicated on other such indigenously built semi-high speed services as well.
Besides, snakes and ladders game, there are coffee mugs and T-shirts featuring Vande Bharat trains. The snakes and ladders game has been devised in such a way that it resembles the route the Vande Bharat Express Trains travel on.
In Mumbai-Sainagar Shirdi and Mumbai-Solapur Vande Bharat train, the board game starts at CSMT and the ladders are replaced with Vande Bharat trains.
If you land, in the board, where the train does not halt, you will go down through snakes and if you land at the halt, you will jump aboard the semi-high speed express trains as a way to climb spaces instead.
The snake and ladder board would be given in the train and passengers are expected to return them before deboarding. The Railways expect this new board game will engage the passengers and rekindle the memories of the person playing the board game.
The Railways is planning to run the semi-high speed and Bharat Express Trains in almost every city of the country.
While there would be a total 75 Vande Bharat trains with seating arrangement, rest will have sleeper facilities for which the Railways has started the bidding process.
According to the first phase plan, there would be 400 Vande Bharat trains with sleeper facilities, out of which, 200 will be made of aluminum coaches.
The 16-coach light weight Vande Bharat trains would be designed for maximum speed of 220 kmph and operational speed of 200 kmph.
The Marathwada Rail Coach Factory at Latur in Maharashtra is being prepared to commence manufacturing of 120 Vande Bharat trains made of stainless steel, this year.
Russian giant TMH, in partnership with Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) has emerged as the lowest bidder for the mega project to manufacture 200 Vande Bharat trains, followed by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)-Titagarh as the second lowest bidder in the much awaited bidding outcome.
In a keenly observed bidding, TMH-RVNL consortium quoted Rs 120 crore for making the 16-coach Vande Bharat train with sleeper facility — much below the anticipated price of Rs 130 crore.
The design for sleeper is different from the existing Vande Bharat trains as there would be three toilets in each coach instead of two now. The water tank would be 2,000 litre capacity as against 1,880 litre in the existing Vande Bharat train.
Berth pattern would be changed to make it sleeper class with arrangement for curtains, pantry cars and matching lighting system. It would take about 24 months to produce the first prototype after the award of the contract.
Currently, 10 Vande Bharat trains made at Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai are operational and from April onward three to four such trains would be rolled out in a month, as the Railways is gearing up to ramp up its production.
Built at ICF Chennai, the premier Vande Bharat service also has features like wider windows, comfortable seats, automatic doors, GPS-based audio visual passenger information system, and onboard wi-fi.
Besides, the Railways will also introduce Vande Metro trains for local and suburban services across the country. The design of Vande Metro train is being finalised now.
Once the specifications are finalised and the prototype is ready, Vande Metro trains would be manufactured at three facilities — ICF Chennai, Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Kapurthala and Modern Coach Factory (MCF) Raebareli.
The first Vande Bharat Express for Varanasi, launched in 2019, is the most popular with higher occupancy rate followed by the second Vande Bharat Express in the same year for Katra, from New Delhi.
The recently launched Secunderabad–Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat train, connecting two Telugu speaking states, is also showing 100 per cent occupancy in both directions.
The Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express is also a big hit since its launch in December 2022, with 100 per cent occupancy rate in both directions.
The Vande Bharat train is also equipped with many added features like GPS-based passenger information system, bio-vacuum toilets, and rotational seats, which can be aligned in the direction of travel in executive class.
The spacious gangways provide you an easy access through one coach to another and for boarding and de-boarding the trains with comfort.
Vande Bharat train also employs a regenerative braking system and can reach a maximum speed of 180 km per hour.
Having the ability of gaining its speed of upto 160 kmph in just zero to 52 seconds, the trains are also fitted with the latest and advanced safety technology — “Kavach” that ensures the rail passengers’ safety during the train travel time.
Since the Vande Bharat service has emerged as a game changer for the Railways, the Railways has earmarked Rs 65,000 crore for manufacturing of Vande Bharat coaches, including Vande Metro coaches.
The Railways is building production capacity to roll out two to three Vande Bharat every week to cater to the growing demand for such trains across the country. Railways will ramp up its production to fulfil the demand from each zone for Vande Bharat service.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the railway department is focused on producing up to three Vande Bharat trains per week by the end of the next fiscal year.
Vaishnaw has maintained that Vande Bharat trains have cumulatively covered the equivalent of 52 times the entire earth’s perimeter without any significant technical challenges setting the stage for rapidly scaling up the production of rolling stock.
The Railways is also developing Vande Bharat Metro trains which would be pressed for service within the periphery of 50-60 km of every major city — so that people can come to the cities for work and leisure before returning home.
“We are coming up with the Vande Bharat equivalent of metro trains, which would offer a world class shuttle like experience to the people,” Vaishanaw said.
“Production and design will be completed this year. In the financial year 2024-25, ramping up of production of Vande Bharat Metro will happen,” Vaishnaw added.
With the Ministry of Railways working on a blueprint to start export of the indigenously manufactured Vande Bharat trains by 2025-26, the underlying design and technology is now garnering global attention.