Vande Bharat Express also incorporates many advanced safety measures.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a high-speed train named Vande Bharat in his home state of Gujarat. The train will run between Gandhinagar and Mumbai, connecting the state capitals of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Here are 5 facts about the new and upgraded version of Vande Bharat Express
- PM Modi after the launch said that the 16-coach Vande Bharat Express, with a capacity of 1,128 passengers, will provide a better experience for travellers even compared to flying.
- The weight of the train has been reduced by 38 tonnes from earlier versions to 392 tonnes, ensuring a more comfortable ride, and it can continue functioning even in two feet of water, officials said.
- New Delhi plans to launch 75 of the Vande Bharat Express trains by August 2023 to connect all major industrial and business cities. The trains have a top speed of 160 kilometres per hour (km/h) (99 miles per hour), according to the news agency Reuters.
- A spokesperson for Integrated Coach Factory, Chennai, which manufactured the train, told Reuters it was fully designed in India, with 80 per cent local materials, and would cost about $135 million. He added that the state-run factory aimed to produce at least 27 by March 2023, besides high-speed freight trains soon.
- Indian Railways, which posted a fall in passenger earnings during two years of the pandemic, is on a path to recovery, with total revenues up 37 per cent year-on-year to $11.82 billion in April-August.
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