A trial run was held today, 6 September for the new Vande Bharat Express wherein the train clocked in speeds of over 180 km/hr. The video of the trial run was shared by Southern Railways on their official Twitter handle. The video shows a glass full of water to the brim not shaking while the train was speeding along its route. “Take a look at the new Vande Bharat rake on trial run clocking 180-183 Kmph. A glass filled to the brim with water stays stable even as the train speeds at 180 Kmph,” said Southern Railway while sharing the video.
The video has been viewed over two lakh times since it was first posted.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav inspected the new Vande Bharat train at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai last month.
“I am happy that the Vande Bharat train has been manufactured by ICF in less time and in good quality. It is a world-class train. It will be a new experience for the passengers traveling on this train,” he had said.
Vande Bharat is a self-propelled engine train. This means it does not have a separate engine. The train is equipped with automatic doors and air-conditioned chair car coaches and a revolving chair that can rotate up to 180 degrees.
Currently, there are two Vande Bharat trains running in India- from Delhi to Katra and from Delhi to Varanasi. The final trial run for the third route, Mumbai- Ahmedabad, is scheduled to be conducted from 7 September, as per reports. Under the trial, also known as the Timetable trial, the Vande Bharat rake will be filled with sandbags.
The project is set for a massive expansion, to manufacturer as many as 75 Vande Bharat trains which will be deployed across the country before August 15, 2023, in accordance with the target set for the Railway ministry by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2022 speech had announced that the country will manufacture 400 new Vande Bharat trains over the next three years. The new trains will mostly be made of aluminum.
The Vande Bharat project falls in under the Make in India campaign and aims to build semi high-speed trains indigenously.
