Vande Bharat Express May Soon Replace The Shatabdi And Rajdhani Trains.

The Vande Bharat Express, India’s first semi-high-speed train, has grown to be the most widely used form of public transportation since it provides the most luxurious and improved travel experience. The Vande Bharat Express was created by the government-owned Integral Coach Factory and offers a wide range of characteristics, including high operational speed and other amenities.

Because of these fascinating characteristics, it has become the most favored mode of transportation. It can now expand its business much more. Vande Bharat Express might replace Rajdhani or Shatabdi trains, according to BG Mallya, Assistant General Manager, Southern Railway (SR), in an exclusive interview with Anindita Sen and Anish Mondal from the Financial Express Online.

He added, however, that Integral Coach Factory needs time to produce Vande Bharat express trains in such vast quantities. Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains, according to Mallya, might be deployed on a different route. This would prevent the Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains from running at reduced speeds because of the Vande Bharat Express. Mallya also serves as the general manager of Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory (ICF).

Mallya also discussed his intentions to launch a sleeper variant of Vande Bharat, which will be ideal for traveling further distances. He claimed that the current fiscal year might see the release of this version. Why did he think it would be a good idea to release this version? Mallya claims that India needs upscale transportation connecting places that are 1,000 or 2,000 kilometers apart. The sleeper version of Vande Bharat is the ideal means of transportation for traveling these vast distances.

Mallya added that the present Vande Bharat Express chair vehicle version could only travel for eight hours, which is unsuitable for larger distances. The sleeper version of the Vande Bharat Express has long been the main draw for the uninitiated. The sleeper variants of the train will be built to run at a peak speed of 220 km/h, according to the reports. Nevertheless, the Vande Bharat Express’s aluminum sleeper variants will only be able to travel at a speed of 200 km/h.

By December of next year, the Center intends to operate Vande Bharat to Sikkim.

There is a proposal to operate the semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express to connect Sikkim by December of next year, according to railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Vaishnaw traveled to Sikkim for three days to monitor the development of the 45-kilometer Sevoke-Rangpo railway project. He went to the Rangpo train station in Sikkim, which is close to the Bengali border, on Tuesday. The minister expressed his delight with how the project was coming forward.

There will be 17 bridges and 14 tunnels along the route. Six tunnels have already finished construction, while work on the bridges is still actively being done. The Indian railway system’s inclusion of Sikkim is a priority for the prime minister. Our attention will next turn to the section between Rangpo and Gangtok after Rangpo is linked. By December 2024, we intend to operate the Vande Bharat Express that would connect Sikkim, according to Vaishnaw.

According to sources at Northeast Frontier Railway, the Union government desired a rail connection to Nathu-la, a pass on the India-China border. They said that the section between Sevoke and Rangpo will probably be finished by the end of the year. The development of the state’s connection, similar to that in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, is a priority for the federal government because Sikkim is strategically located geographically, according to a source.

By August of this year, according to Vaishnaw, who is also the central minister for communication, electronics, and information technology, 5G cellular services would be accessible in Sikkim. He stated, “We aim to increase cellular coverage throughout the state so that those who live in isolated areas may connect to the outside world.

Tata Steel will produce 22 Vande Bharat trains over the next year.

The fastest and most feature-rich train in the nation, the Vande Bharat Express, would be built in 22 trains by Tata Steel for the Indian Railways over the following year. In addition to setting a goal for running the first sleeper variant of Vande Bharat by the first quarter of 2024, the Ministry of Railways has set a manufacturing target for 200 Vande Bharat trains over the following two years. With this in mind, Indian Railways and Tata Steel have inked a deal on several initiatives to speed up the production process.

Tata Steel will now produce all of the seats for the Vande Bharat Express, from the first AC coach to the three-tier coaches, The business, under whose auspices structures of panels, windows, and rails are being created, has also been awarded the contract for manufacturing Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches of the train.

For the scheme’s current production of the train’s components, which must be finished in a year, the Indian Railways awarded a tender to the international steel business for roughly Rs 145 crore. Tata Steel’s composites business began working in this approach after getting a large order for the Vande Bharat Express seating system, which included 22 train sets with 16 coaches each.

“The seats of this train are carefully developed, and they can swivel up to 180 degrees. They also offer passenger amenities that are similar to those found on airplanes, which is a first in India,” said Debashish Bhattacharya, Vice President (Technology and Emerging Materials Business), of Tata Steel. Sources claim that Tata Steel is continually working to increase its ownership of the railways and that it has appointed people to work with the railways.

Edited by Prakriti Arora