Arunendra Kumar/ New Delhi
Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Vande Bharat (VB) express train from Dehradun to Delhi. This is the 17th Vande Bharat train to run in the country. Very soon, in the next couple of days, the 18th VB will be inaugurated to run in the north-east.
What is so special about this train that each time it is flagged off, it is keenly watched and analysed by people and experts alike.
The reason is obvious. VB matches the dream and aspirations of a Rising India. Over the last twenty years there was a virtual drought of new designs in the passenger coaches in Indian Railways.
Vande Bharat Trains match the aspirations of a Rising India
While the auto sector was witness to new offerings almost every year, the Railways concentrated on increasing the numbers of coaches only. No effort was made to work on the design and speed of new trains.
When VB was rolled out, it symbolised a quantum jump for railway passengers in the country. It was not just a sleek train with an aerodynamic front profile. It quickly became the icon of progress and a game changer for Indian Railways.
ICF, the premier manufacturing unit, at Chennai came up with the first version of Vande Bharat genre of trains. PM Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India’ saw the setting up of a new factory.
Vande Bharat Trains are fitted with very comfortable interiors
Once the dynamics of the look was sealed, the engineers worked on the speed characteristics of the train. In just 52 seconds a 16-coach train could reach a speed of 100 mph. Just to appreciate this fact, a Shatabdi train from Delhi to Dehradun takes 6 hours 10 minutes whereas VB completes the journey in 4 hours 45 minutes - a whopping reduction in travel time by 1 hour 25 minutes over a distance of 315 kilometres.
Along with reducing the travel time, efforts have been made to make the journey smooth and comfortable for passengers. There are modern interiors, bio-toilets, infotainment facilities, and automatic plug doors among other things. Its success can be gauged by the fact that the occupancy on the 16 routes it is running on is close to a hundred per cent.
The Indian Railways is not resting on its laurels after this initial success. More versions of VB are in the offing. Passengers are soon going to be treated with the Sleeper berths which will help make overnight journeys from cities like Delhi and Mumbai possible.
Most of the Vande Bharat Trains are running at 100 percent capacity
Following this, light-weight alluminium coaches are on the anvil, which will further reduce the construction cost. The Indian railways has signed an MOU for a joint venture with a Russian company for this purpose.
The newer version of the trains will also have cattle guards which will absorb more of collision energy and avoid dragging of animals on the track. This has been necessitated due to some recent incidents of stray cattle being killed by these high-speed trains.
Also among the plans is to export these trains.
The Vande Bharat trains are not an experiment. This White beauty is also India’s message of peace and progress to the world. It has caught the imagination of one and all. No discussion on Indian Railways today is complete today without any discussion on Vande Bharat trains.
*The writer is Former Chairman of Indian Railway Board.
