NEW DELHI: Ahead of Assembly elections in Gujarat, Ahmedabad is all set to get the commercial services of the newly rolled out third rake of the country’s semi-high-speed Vande Bharat express train. The railway conducted the final test run of this new version of the Vande Bharat train on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad section on September 9 under keen observations of technical and safety experts.
Sources in the railways said that the third rake of Vande Bharat train, equipped with wi-fi, ‘content on demand’ and the photo-catalytic ultra air purifier system, during its final test-run covered the distance of 492 km just in 5 hours 10 minutes. “Soon the distance between Mumbai-Ahmedabad will be reduced from Vande Bharat”, hinted Darshana Jardosh-Minister of State for Railways on Tuesday about the introduction of third rake of Vande Bharat train through a tweet.
The railway is learnt to have started all preparations to get the third rake of the Vande Bharat train flagged- off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, mostly likely on September 30. There is a strong chance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi being physically available for the event. “The PM has been requested and he may likely flag off the third rake of Vande Bharat express train from Gandhinagar station in Gujarat to Mumbai Central. Details are still awaited but the third new rake of the Vande Bharat is ready to go for a commercial run with all world-class passenger amenities and safety measures”, a senior railway official told this newspaper.
J&K rail link generates 500L mandays work
New Delhi: The much-awaited Udhampur-Srinagar Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) launched as the country’s one national rail project has set a record in generating 500 lakh mandays of employment and providing rail connectivity to over 1.5L people living in far-flung hilly areas.