NEW DELHI: All the 400 new-generation Vande Bharat trains to be rolled out during the next three years would be equipped with world class safety and comfort facilities with an enhanced running capacity up to 180kmp on strengthen tracks.
Designed under Make In India concept in 2018, the two Vande Bharat trains of version-I are currently running between New Delhi and Varanasi and the Delhi and Katra in Kashmir with 95 per cent of occupancy.
"The test-run of the prototype of Vande Bharat train version-II on tracks is likely to be done in April this year while the production of coaches of this train would most probably start from August or September of current year," Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday.
He also said that when the first prototype of version-I Vande Bharat train was developed and designed under the 'Make In India' initiative to run at the speed of 180 kmph in 2018, it has taken the entire world by utter surprise as how the Indian railway engineers succeed in designing and developing this train.
He said that after the successful test-run of second version of Vande Bharat train, the Indian railway will start manufacturing 7 to 8 such trains every month.
In reply to a specific query, the railway minister said that new 400 new -generation Vande Bharat trains will create separate segment with the expectation of people, who afford to undertake journey in the premier trains.
"In a simple way, it should be known that the Vande Bharat train is a new platform with new technologies", the minister said. The railway increased the number of Vande Bharat trains from 75 the prime minister had announced in 2021 to 400 during the next three years.
The railway minister further said that the Vande Bharat trains as an excellent example of Make In India concept would be include India I the club of eight other countries which have had developed trains like that to run up to 180 kmph apart from the bullet trains.
He further said that almost all important cities of country would be linked with the operating services of Vande Bharat trains in future. "The Vande Bharat has been designed to run with a composition of 16 coaches with no separate locomotive. The new-generation Vande Bharat train will certainly would give a delightful riding experience to the passengers," the railway minister exuded.
The new-gen coaches of Vande Bharat-the advance version of currently-being developed version-II, would be made of light-weight aluminum not having more than 50 tonnes of weight with a hi-tech facility to consume less energy than other conventional coaches of railways.
Meanwhile, a reliable railway source said added that the Vande Bharat trains after the successful test-run of version-II, with which technology the railway is manufacturing 44 such trains now, would be used in running between national capital to other major cities in an initial phase.