With the aim of catering to the common man, Indian Railways will manufacture non-AC Vande Sadharan train with Sleeper and General facility for long distance journey.
According to the decision, the non-AC Vande Sadharan train will be manufactured at ICF Chennai at an estimated cost of Rs 65 crore and the first rake is expected to be rolled out by this year-end.
The fully AC Vande Bharat train with seating arrangement is being manufactured at ICF costing the Railways about Rs 100 crore.
Vande Sadharan will have 24 LHB coaches and two locomotives at the front and rear-end to haul the train speedily.
Vande Sadharan train will be hauled through push-pull method using two locos. The push-pull system increases the acceleration rate in the train running system.
The coaches will be equipped with modern facilities like bio vacuum toilets, passenger information system and charging points at every seat. There will be CCTV cameras in every coach to strengthen the security of passengers.
The train will have automatic door system like in Vande Bharat Express.
This is for the first time that CCTV camera, bio-vacuum toilets and automatic doors are being provided in non-AC train.
The Railways has faced criticism from some quarters for launching Vande Bharat trains which is perceived as an elite service with higher fare.
However, Vande Sadharan service is expected to be on normal fare.
The Railways is also manufacturing Vande Metro for local travel at ICF.