Vande Bharat Express Trains: The semi-high-speed train Vande Bharat Express rake has been given a new look. According to Indian Railways officials, the 28th rake of the Made in India semi-high-speed train will be in a combination of saffron and brown instead of the existing blue and white colour. However, the new saffron Vande Bharat Express, currently stationed at Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory (ICF), where Vande Bharat trains are made, is not in service yet.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav shared the pictures of Vande Bharat Express in new color on his Twitter account.
Railway officials told news agency ANI that a total of 25 rakes of Vande Bharat Express are operating on their scheduled routes and two rakes are reserved. He said, “However, the color of this 28th rake is being changed as a test.”
Ashwini Vaishnav inspects construction of Vande Bharat trains
Earlier on Saturday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav visited the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and inspected the manufacturing of Vande Bharat trains at the facility. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav was accompanied by senior officers of ICF. He also took stock of the production of the latest new generation high-speed trains and toured the sprawling complex. In a video, the Railway Minister is seen checking the seats inside the Vande Bharat train. He also visited the Loco Pilot Zone and inspected the area.
25 improvements made in Vande Bharat trains
After his inspection, Vaishnav said that the 28th rake of the indigenous train has a new color scheme that takes “inspiration from the Indian tricolor”. He further said that 25 improvements have been made in Vande Bharat trains. These include increased seat recline, better cushion for the seats, better access to mobile charging points, extended foot-rests in executive chair cars, among others.
He said that Railways works on the basis of feedback received from passengers as well as other stakeholders. He said, “These inputs are being used to improve the coaches for safe and comfortable travel of passengers. The production process of Vande Bharat Sleeper variant as well as Vande Metro coaches is in very good stage. “
“It is a concept of Make in India, (meaning) designed in India by our own engineers and technicians. So whatever feedback we are getting from field units regarding ACs, toilets etc. during Vande Bharat operations, all those improvements are being used to make changes in the design.
“A new safety feature, ‘anti climbers’, or anti-climbing devices, that we are working on was also reviewed today. These will be standard features in all Vande Bharat and other trains,” Ashwini Vaishnav said in a press briefing.
Two new Vande Bharats flagged off in Uttar Pradesh
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off two new Vande Bharat Express train services. The first will run between Gorakhpur-Lucknow and the second between Jodhpur-Ahmedabad (Sabarmati).
While the Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat Express will pass through Ayodhya, which will improve connectivity and boost tourism in Uttar Pradesh, the Jodhpur-Sabarmati Vande Bharat train will improve connectivity to places like Jodhpur, Abu Road and Ahmedabad.
first vande bharat train
ICF introduced the first semi-high-speed train, commonly known as Vande Bharat Express, during the year 2018-19. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking the journey from New Delhi to Varanasi. In the second week of October 2022, ICF achieved the distinction of having built over 70,000 coaches since its inception in 1955, the highest by any passenger coach manufacturer in the world.
Vande Bharat Express
Vande Bharat Express is an indigenously built, semi-high speed and self-propelled train set. The train is equipped with state-of-the-art passenger amenities, which provide faster, more comfortable and convenient travel experience to passengers. Vande Bharat train is India’s first indigenously built semi-high-speed trainset, also known as Train 18. It is designed to run at speeds of up to 160 km/h and is equipped with modern features such as a GPS-based passenger information system. Onboard Wi-Fi and CCTV cameras for enhanced security.
The demand is increasing with the introduction of sleeper class Vande Bharat trainset, which are capable of running on long distance routes like Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah. Currently, all operational Vande Bharat trains have only chair car and executive chair car classes, which cater to short distance routes.
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Also read: PM Modi flags off Gorakhpur-Lucknow, Jodhpur-Ahmedabad (Sabarmati) Vande Bharat trains
(with inputs from agencies)