Introduction

Government of India has dedicated significant efforts towards strengthening the ‘Make in India’ campaign. As an excellent example of the ‘Make in India’ success story, the Indian Railways launched India’s first indigenous Semi High Speed train, Vande Bharat Express. The first Vande Bharat Express train was flagged off on February 15, 2019, on the New Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi route.[1]

On September 24, 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off nine Vande Bharat trains via video conferencing.  The new Vande Bharat trains are as follows: Udaipur – Jaipur Vande Bharat Express, Tirunelveli – Madurai – Chennai Vande Bharat Express, Hyderabad – Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express, Vijayawada – Chennai (via Renigunta) Vande Bharat Express, Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express, Kasaragod –  Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express, Rourkela – Bhubaneswar – Puri Vande Bharat Express, Ranchi – Howrah Vande Bharat Express, and Jamnagar – Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express. With the inclusion of these nine routes, a total of 68 Vande Bharat train services are now operational in the country.

The Vande Bharat Express can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph and has travel classes like Shatabdi Train but with better facilities. It aims to provide a totally new travel experience to passengers. Speed, Safety and Service are the hallmarks of this train. Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, a Railways Production unit, has been the force behind a completely in-house design and manufacture, computer modelling and working with a large number of suppliers for system integration in just 18 months.[2]

During Financial year, 2023-24 (up to June 2023), the overall utilization of Vande Bharat trains has been 99.60%.

Objectives behind Vande Bharat Express

This train has been introduced to upgrade maintenance technologies and methodologies and achieve improvement in productivity and performance of all Railway assets and manpower in which inter-alia would cover reliability, availability, utilization and efficiency.[3]

Culmination of ‘Make in India’ effort of Indian Railways

In keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of "Make in India", the major systems of the train have been designed and built in India.

 Impact of this train, matching global standards of performance, safety and passenger comfort and yet costing less than half of global prices, has the potential to be a game changer in the global rail business.[4]

Union Budget 2022: 400 Vande Bharat Trains in three years

In the Union Budget 2022-23, Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman announced that four hundred new -generation Vande Bharat Trains with better energy efficiency and passenger riding experience will be developed and manufactured during the next three years.[5]

Features and Amenities in Vande Bharat Express[6]

• The Vande Bharat Express train has an intelligent braking system which enables better acceleration and deceleration.
• All coaches are equipped with automatic doors; GPS-based audio-visual passenger information system, on-board hotspot Wi-Fi for entertainment purposes, and very comfortable seating. The executive class also has rotating chairs.

• All toilets are bio-vacuum type. The lighting is dual mode, viz. diffused for general illumination and personal for every seat.
• Every coach has a pantry with facilities to serve hot meals, hot and cold beverages. The insulation is meant to keep heat and noise to very low levels for additional passenger comfort.
• The Vande Bharat Express has 16 air-conditioned coaches of which two are executive class coaches. The total seating capacity is 1,128 passengers. It is much more than the conventional Shatabdi rake of an equal number of coaches, thanks to shifting all electric equipment below the coaches and seats in the driving coach.

 

• It also has provision for Divyang-friendly facilities.
• Adding up the green footprints, the train has a regenerative braking system in the Vande Bharat Express coaches which can save up to 30% of electrical energy.

· The Vande Bharat Express train has fully sealed gangways and censored interconnecting doors for a dust-free environment.

• A fire survival cable indoor circuit will also be available on the train. There will also be an improved air conditioning system.[7]

Vande Bharat 2.0

The Indian Railways has introduced the new avatar of Vande Bharat: Vande Bharat 2.0 with the first train being flagged off by the Prime Minister on September 30, 2022 from Gandhinagar to Mumbai.[8] The Vande Bharat 2.0 will be equipped with a range of advanced features over its predecessor. It will be able to attain maximum speed up to 180 kmph, and will be lighter, weighing 392 ton instead of the earlier 430 ton. The advancements in this new avatar include the following:

• Enhanced Safety:

The Vande Bharat 2.0 trains have the KAVACH (Train Collision Avoidance System) for enhanced safety in operations. There will be improved security with four emergency windows added in every coach. There will be four platform side cameras including rear view cameras outside the coach instead of two earlier. The new coaches have Level-II safety integration certification for better train control. The Vande Bharat 2.0 will also have better fire safety measures with aerosol-based fire detection and suppression system in all electrical cubicles and toilets. There will be superior floodproofing for under-slung electrical equipment to withstand floods up to 650 mm height as compared to 400 mm earlier. The train will also have four emergency lighting in every coach in case of electric failure.

 

• Improved Amenities for Passengers:

There will be enhanced riding comfort for passengers at 3.5 riding index. The new Vande Bharat will also have 32-inch LCD TVs in place of the earlier 24-inch TVs. There will be a passenger information and communication system in Vande Bharat 2.0. 15 per cent more energy efficient ACs with dust free clean air cooling of traction motor will make the travel more comfortable. Side recliner seat facility which is being provided to Executive Class passengers, will now be made available for all classes. The Executive Coaches have the added feature of 180-degree rotating seats. The train will also have bio vacuum toilets with touch-free amenities. The trains will also have wi-fi content on demand.

 

• Other Enhancements:

The Vande Bharat 2.0 will have finer heat ventilation and air-conditioning control through a higher efficiency compressor, with Ultra Violet (UV) lamp for a germ-free supply of air. The train’s time to reach 160 KMPH will be 140 seconds, compared to 145 seconds earlier. There will be driver-guard communication with voice recording facility. There will be change of formation with non-driving trailer coach in the middle for better acceleration and deceleration. The train will have better ventilation for traction motor for better reliability. There will also be two signal exchange lights on the coaches for exchange of signal with the way side stations.

Vande Bharat Operational Routes

 

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References:

• https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1891348

· https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1875134

· https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1882430

· https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1882508

· https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1794123

· https://twitter.com/indiagovin/status/1096266735232024576?lang=gu

· VANDE_BHARAT_Volume_1(1).pdf (indianrailways.gov.in)

• https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1564577
• https://twitter.com/Central_Railway/status/1179599749122379776?s=20&t=otXVygkRqDWn7C6dnwjaJw
• Fare structure of Train 18 (Vande Bharat Express) – IRCTCPORTAL

· https://newindiasamachar.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/flipbook/2022/Feb/1st/English/index.html

· Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 943 dated 26.07.2023

• Unstarred Question No. 2214 dated 02.08.2023

 

Image References:

• General Instructions & Safety Precaution (indianrailways.gov.in)
• (13) Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) / Twitter

Video Reference:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlUyebrlgc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGODYvWKtW8

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