Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday said the country will get three versions of Vande Bharat trains by February-March next year. In an interview with news agency PTI, Vaishnaw said the three versions of indigenous semi-high-speed trains will include Vande Chair Car, Vande Metro and Vande Sleepers.
“There are three formats of Vande Bharat. Vande Metro for less than 100 kilometres, Vande Chair Car for 100-550 kilometres and Vande Sleepers for a journey beyond 550 kilometres. These three formats will be ready by February-March (next year),” Vaishnaw told PTI.
The minister was speaking after the launch of a Vande Bharat train from Uttarakhand’s Dehradun to the Anand Vihar Terminal Railway Station in Delhi. A total of 17 Vande Bharat trains have been launched so far, all of them flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vaishnaw said every state will get a Vande Bharat train by mid-June.
“Every eighth or ninth day, a new train is coming out of the factory. Work is going to start at two more factories. We will have a new train coming out of these factories once their supply chain gets stabilised,” Vaishnaw said.
Vande Bharat trains are designed with a top speed of 160 kmph but they will run at a speed of up to 130 kmph according to track capacity. The minister asserted that the railway tracks will be upgraded to support the maximum speed of Vande Bharat trains in the next three to four years.
“Old tracks were designed to support speeds between 70 and 80 kmph. 30,000-35,000 kilometres of tracks are being upgraded to support speeds of 110 kmph, 130 kmph and 160 kmph. It will be done in the next three to four years,” Vaishnaw said.
(With PTI inputs)
