The Indian Railways and the Central Government are working on improving the railway network across India. As a part of this development plan, the transport organization is increasing the semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains in India. Currently, the train operates on eight routes spread across different parts of India. To further expand the train services, Railways has plans to introduce more Vande Bharat Express trains in India. According to the PTI report, these new trains will be introduced in Southern India.
Significantly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the last Vande Bharat train between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam. This train passes through two Telugu speaking states, making it the second train in South India. The first Vande Bharat train in South India was flagged off on the Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysore route.
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Vande Bharat Express New Route:
New Vande Bharat Express is being considered to run in Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra. These new trains are planned to cover 2 routes in South India.
- Kachiguda in Telangana to Bengaluru in Karnataka
- Secunderabad in Telangana to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and Pune in Maharashtra
The introduction of these new trains is in line with the government’s target of running 75 Vande Bharat trains by the end of 2023. The organization also plans to increase this number to 400 in the next three years.
Vande Bharat Train Route:
Presently, Vande Bharat trains are running on 8 routes across India. These routes include
Route 1: New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
Route 2: New Delhi – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (J&K) Vande Bharat Express
Route 3: Gandhinagar and Mumbai Vande Bharat Express
Route 4: New Delhi to Amb Andaura in Himachal Pradesh Vande Bharat Express
Route 5: Chennai-Mysore Vande Bharat Express
Route 6: Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express
Route 7: Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express
Route 8: Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express
Features of Vande Bharat Train:
The Vande Bharat Express, also known as Train 18, is an electric multi-unit, semi-high-speed intercity train operated by the Indian Railways. It takes just 52 seconds to reach 100 kmph. A sleeper version of the Vande Bharat trains with a top speed of 220 kmph is also being developed by the Indian Railways. For enhanced operational safety, Vande Bharat 2.0 trains are equipped with Kavach (Train Collision Avoidance System). Vande Bharat Express now travels through 8 routes in India: