The Vande Bharat sleeper is designed for long-distance travel (File)
New Delhi:
The Indian Railways will introduce the sleeper version of the Vande Bharat Express train and Vande Metro next year. The sleeper variant will be intended for long-distance travel, while Vande Metro will help commuters cover short distances.
Here are the big updates on the story
The first sleeper coaches of the Vande Bharat Express train will be rolled out in March 2024, while Vande Metro is expected to commence operations in January next year.
Both the new types of Vande Bharat Express trains are being developed by Indian Railways’ Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.
The Vande Bharat sleeper car is designed for long-distance travel and can reach a speed of 220 km per hour. However, according to officials, the car will travel at 200 km per hour on the tracks. This allows passengers to travel long journeys at high speed at night.
The Vande Bharat sleeper trains are likely to serve as an alternative to Rajdhani trains. The chair car version, on the other hand, will gradually replace the Shatabdi trains.
The Railways had floated a tender for 400 Vande Bharat trains. The first lot of 200 trains will be made of steel and will have a seating arrangement like Shatabdi Express. The second lot will consist of aluminum sleeping cars.
The Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata tracks will be repaired before the Vande Bharat sleeper trains run on them. Work will also be carried out on the signal system, bridges and fencing on the routes.
Vande Metro is being developed to facilitate short-distance travel for commuters. It is a new type of Vande Bharat train consisting of 12 coaches.
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