Business: Trial run of the first Vande Bharat train with 20 coaches begins

The trial run of the first Vande Bharat train with 20 coaches between Ahmedabad and Mumbai has started. This Vande Bharat has run at a speed of 130 km per hour in the first trial run. The train left Ahmedabad at 7 am. It is worth noting that the current Vande Bharat train has 16 coaches in big cities and 8 coaches between small cities. Till now, two Vande Bharat trains with 16 coaches each were running between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The 20 coach semi high speed train left Kalupur railway station at 7 am. The train reached Mumbai Central station at 12.15 pm via Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat. Additional four C coaches have been added along with 14C+2E for the trial run. Railway Police Force (RPF) personnel were deployed at railway crossings and stations between Ahmedabad and Mumbai to deal with any kind of emergency situation during the trial run. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had earlier said in Parliament that Vande Bharat trains are being operated in every state and no discrimination has been made. He announced in the House that it has been decided to run Vande Metro on the lines of regional trains between short-distance cities, between which the distance is 150 and 200 km, which has been designed and testing is going on. Vaishnav said that Vande Metro will be inaugurated soon and it will prove to be a boon for the passengers with many features.

Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said, ‘As of July 29, 2024, Indian Railways has 102 Vande Bharat train services running, connecting states with broad gauge (BG) electrified network. These trains are currently being operated for a distance of 760 km.’ MP C.V. Shanmugam had asked whether Vande Bharat trains will replace Rajdhani and other super fast trains? The Railway Minister said, ‘The new Vande Bharat services have been started without changing the existing train services.