India to make 75 Vande Bharat trains before August 2023, says Railway Minister

Along with the flag off in the Integral Coach Factory, the Union Railway Minister also announced that the new trains produced will be upgraded compared to the current versions, reports ANI.

Image Source- ANI

During his visit to the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the 12,000th  Linke Hofmann Busch coach and examined the manufacturing of coaches for Vande Bharat trains. He also made major announcements during the ceremony regarding production of more trains by next year.

"Vande Bharat manufacturing on fast track at ICF Chennai," the Minister tweeted. He also said that 75 more of these trains are to be produced. These new trains will be better upgraded versions compared to older models, scheduled to be produced before Aug 15, 2023.

Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visits Integral Coach Factory, Chennai to witness the manufacturing of Vande Bharat train coaches

"75 trains will be produced before Aug 15, 2023. The latest version of the train coaches will be an upgrade over the previous version," he says. pic.twitter.com/tHNL1HuPY2 — ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2022

This current interation of the train will have a sleeper coach to facilitate long-distance overnight journeys. The new trains will have 3 classes with AC-1, AC-2 and AC 3 coaches. It is an essential update as the present Vande Bharat trains only have chair car seating format. To take advantage of modern technology, specifications for lightweight bogies, transformers, and motors, among other things, are being produced.

The Vande Bharat trains in version 3 will be lighter, more energy-efficient, and have more modern conveniences and passenger facilities. So far, 102 Vande Bharat Express trains with solely seating layouts have been launched.

The reason for aspiring to increase the number of these trains is majorly based on the speed, as these semi-high-speed rails are capable of travelling at an average speed of 160 kmph.

It is to be noted that the procurement of 400 extra Vande Bharat trains was already announced in the Union Budget 2022-23. According to the budget provision, a 16-coach Vande Bharat train is anticipated to cost Rs 120 crore.

Apart from the production sites in Kapurthala, Chennai, and Rae Bareli, Indian Railways would provide the Latur facility for constructing 200 Vande Bharat train sets.

With inputs from agencies