WATCH: Vande Bharat Express Climbs Maharashtra's Steep Western Ghats With Ease

Image: Twitter

Vande Bharat Express, the semi-high speed train, for the first time, successfully climbed both the steepest western ghat mountain sections of Bhor Ghat (Khandala on Pune line) and Thull Ghat (Kasara on Nashik line) without banker engines. The trial run of the Vande Bharat Express train is underway ahead of dual train launch on Mumbai-Shirdi and Mumbai-Solapur routes. One of the two new Vande Bharat Express trains recently reached Mumbai ahead of the flag off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be launching the trains at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) next week, on February 10. 

The train reached Mumbai from the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory and is undergoing trials in the ghat (hilly) sections on the outskirts of Mumbai to test its parking brakes before its maiden run on February 10. The second new train is expected to reach Mumbai on February 6, officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to launch Vande Bharat Express trains on Mumbai-Solapur and Mumbai-Shirdi routes on February 10.

#AamchiVande

In a first, Vande Bharat navigates through two steepest ghats of India. pic.twitter.com/oe1Ro7hpyz — Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) February 4, 2023

Both the trains have been manufactured at the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory. "The train will undergo trials in the ghat section to test the parking brakes," a senior railway official had told PTI earlier in the morning. The Vande Bharat Express between Mumbai and Solapur is likely to run through the Bhor ghat (located between Karjat and Khandala on the way to Pune) and is expected to cover the distance of around 455 km in 6.35 hours.

The Mumbai-Shirdi train is expected to run through the Thal ghat (in Kasara area near Mumbai) and cover the distance of 340 km in 5.25 hours. With a gradient of 1:37 (for every 37-metre run there is a rise of 1 metre), both Bhor and Thal ghats are among the toughest Railway ghat sections in the county, officials said.

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Traversing challenging terrain with ease!
To ascend the steep routes in Ghat areas a banker (pushing loco) is often required, however, Vande Bharat Express sails the Ghats with incredible efficiency. pic.twitter.com/fz73p4udm5 — Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) February 5, 2023

Additional locomotives, called 'bankers', are used for pushing trains from behind from the Mumbai side in the ghat sections to prevent them from rolling back. But the process of attaching and later detaching bankers takes at least a few minutes increasing the travel time, an official explained.

The Vande Bharat trains on both the routes will be run without attaching bankers. Instead, they will have parking brakes which will stop the train from rolling down on gradient.
So far, eight Vande Bharat Express trains have been launched on various inter-state routes, including one between Mumbai and Gandhinagar.