PM Narendra Modi flags off Gandhinagar-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off the Gandhinagar-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express, the third such train of the Centre’s flagship railway project, calling the combination of the train and Ahmedabad Metro, also launched today, a pillar to Gujarat’s economic success.

“This train will bring Ahmedabad and Mumbai closer, which are two of India’s biggest cities. Ordinary express trains take 7-8 hours between the two cities, and even the faster Shatabdi trains take 6-7 hours sometimes. Vande Bharat will take a maximum of five and a half hours for the transit,” Modi said at the inauguration event. .

Modi added that there will be even more improvements in the train. The latest, lightweight Vande Bharat is an upgraded version of the first two train sets. While the top speed of Vande Bharat-1 is 160 kilometres per hour (kmph), Vande Bharat-2 can achieve a top speed of 180 kmph.

“The improved Vande Bharat Express will weigh 392 tons when compared to the previous version of 430 tons. It will also have a Wi-Fi content on-demand facility. Every coach is equipped with 32” screens providing passenger information and infotainment compared to 24” in the previous version,” a statement by the Centre said.

The train is also equipped with Kavach, India’s first indigenous automatic train protection (ATP) system. In Vande Bharat-2, side recliner seat facility, which was provided only to executive class passengers earlier will now be made available for all classes, while executive Coaches have the added feature of 180-degree rotating seats.

According to Indian Railways, the ticket fare of the Gandhinagar-Mumbai Vande Bharat will be Rs 1440 for chair car and Rs 2650 for executive coach.