TIRUCHY: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a post-Budget conference mentioning of plans to roll out more Vande Bharat trains across the country has raised hopes of the Tiruchy division getting one as it already is equipped with a facility to undertake maintenance of the high-speed trains. Senior railway officials, however, said it would at least take two years for the trains to ply the route as it would entail track upgradation work. Senior officials pointed out that the existing tracks laid in the division can handle trains running up to a speed of 130 kmph.
"We have to undertake track upgradation work to start Vande Bharat trains through Tiruchy division. It would roughly take about two years,” an official said. Mentioning Vande Bharat trains’ average speed to be 160 kmph, the official added, “We have to therefore undertake track upgradation in order to start such high-speed trains through the route.”
Vande Bharat trains are, however, likely to ply Tiruchy in the near future for overhauling work. "Last year, we had upgraded the infrastructure at the Broad Gauge Coaching Depot in Tiruchy to handle overhauling work of Vande Bharat trains. These trains can hence reach Tiruchy anytime. The trains would then run at a lower speed to reach the Tiruchy depot," a railway engineer said. With some services like Tejas Express already running successfully through the Tiruchy division, sources said that the railway is likely to soon clear the decks for the running of Vande Bharat trains in the route. The Tiruchy-Villupuram section under the division is one of the possible routes for the high-speed trains to ply, they added.