Four more Vande Bharat routes to be launched this month

Subject : Governance

Concept :

Come the last week of July, the Indian Railways is considering introducing four new Vande Bharat train routes – Delhi to Chandigarh (243 km), Chennai to Tirunelveli (622 km), Gwalior to Bhopal (432 km) and Lucknow to Prayagraj (200 km).
The new Vande Bharat launches come at a time when Railways is juggling with a two-fold challenge that of attempting to enhance occupancy by lowering passenger fare.

Vande Bharat Trains

It is an indigenously designed and manufactured semi high speed, self-propelled train that is touted as the next major leap for the Indian Railways in terms of speed and passenger convenience since the introduction of Rajdhani trains.
The first Vande Bharat was manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, as part of the ‘Make in India’ programme, at a cost of about Rs. 100 crore.
The Vande Bharat was India’s first attempt at adaptation of the train set technology compared with conventional systems of passenger coaches hauled by separate locomotives.
The train set configuration, though complex, is faster, easier to maintain, consumes less energy, and has greater flexibility in train operation.
Currently, two Vande Bharat Expresses are operational —one between New Delhi and Varanasi and the other from New Delhi to Katra.
The 400 new trains will have “better efficiency” and railways are looking at making several of these trainsets with aluminium instead of steel.
An aluminium body will make each trainset around 40-80 tonnes lighter than a current Vande Bharat and this will mean lower consumption of energy as well as better speed potential.

Features of the Vande Bharat Trains

These trains, dubbed as Train 18 during the development phase, operate without a locomotive and are based on a propulsion system called distributed traction power technology, by which each car of the train set is powered.
Its coaches incorporate passenger amenities including on-board WiFi entertainment, GPS-based passenger information system, CCTVs, automatic doors in all coaches, rotating chairs and bio-vacuum type toilets like in aircraft.
It can achieve a maximum speed of 160 kmph due to faster acceleration and deceleration, reducing journey time by 25% to 45%.
It also has an intelligent braking system with power regeneration for better energy efficiency thereby making it cost, energy and environment efficient.