Mumbai-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express to arrive in city soon

The iconic semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express, which has been finalised for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route, will arrive on Western Railway soon.

"The train will be received on WR in a day or two and it will undergo trials starting September 7." Western Railway chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur said.

Officials said that the Express, also known as Train 18, will undergo a series of further route trials in order to obtain the safety clearance for commercial runs overseen by the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety (CCRS). Once all approvals are in place, the railway ministry will formally give a green signal.

Also read: Jogeshwari to have dedicated coaching centre for Vande Bharat trains on Western Railway

The train has already gone through nearly a month-long oscillation and braking trials on different routes and terrains and with varying speeds, from 115 km/h to 180 km/h. Oscillation trials were also conducted in both loaded and empty conditions.

Currently, two Vande Bharat Express trains are running on the Delhi-Katra and Delhi-Varanasi routes.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad inter-city route has been selected keeping in mind the convenience of the passengers returning in the morning and returning in the evening.

The Vande Bharat Express is designed to run at a maximum speed of 200 km/h, but the tracks on which the train operates are not capable of supporting such high speeds, hence the train is operated at a maximum speed of 130 km/h. During the trials, it achieved a record speed of 180 km/h, making it one of the fastest trains to run in India.

The semi-high-speed train is a first-of-its-kind self-propelled train set. It has automatic doors and air-conditioned coaches with revolving chairs that can rotate up to 180 degrees.

Indian railways has been working on a plan to operate 75 Vande Bharat trains by 2023 on prominent routes across the country. The manufacturing of Vande Bharat Express trains is carried out at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.

75
No. of Train 18s rlys plans to run by 2023