French railway manufacturer awarded Rs 1,285 crore contract
French company Alstom on Tuesday said it has been awarded a contract worth Rs 1,285 crore for supplying Mitrac traction components and other electrical equipment for 17 Vande Bharat Sleeper trainsets. The contract also includes preventive and corrective maintenance of the traction and major electric equipment, as well as support services, for a five-year period, after completion of warranty, at various railway depots, Alstom said in a statement. The equipment will be installed in 24-car sleeper trainsets on the Vande Bharat platform, designed to run at a maximum speed of 180 km/h, with a service speed of 160 km/h, it added. The systems will be supplied to Indian Railways' Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai. "Alstom has the widest components portfolio in the rail industry, which has been developed on the back of decades of experience in delivering rail solutions across the globe," Alstom India Managing Director Olivier Loison said. In India, Alstom has engineering and industri
Years of hard work and dedication, and some engineering marvels later, the dream of Kashmir's rail connectivity finally came true as a specially-designed Vande Bharat Express train arrived here on Saturday, completing its trial run. The train, on its maiden trial run, arrived at the Srinagar station in the Nowgam area on the city outskirts from Katra in Jammu. It had reached Jammu on Friday. As the Vande Bharat Express reached the station at 11:30 am, it was welcomed with slogans and praises for the Indian Railways. A large number of people and railway officials were waiting for the train since the morning, many of them carrying garlands to welcome the officials on board the train. After a brief half at the station here, the train moved to the Budgam station to complete its trial run. "The first trial run of the Vande Bharat between Katra and Kashmir was completed successfully," an official said. The train is specially designed to operate seamlessly in Jammu and Kashmir's challe
The Ministry of Railways has made significant strides in improving the travel experience for government employees by expanding the number of trains available under Leave Travel Concession (LTC).According to a press release, government employees can travel on 385 premium trains, including 136 Vande Bharat, 97 Humsafar, and 8 Tejas Express trains, alongside 144 existing high-end trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto.The press release stated that government employees were already availing luxurious AC travel in 144 existing high-end trains in the category of Rajdhani, Shatabdi & Duronto series. With this decision, there will be a total 385 trains across all the regions of the country where they are operating in which tickets can be booked for LTC travel by the government employees.This expansion, announced by the Department of Personnel & Training, is aimed at providing all central government employees access to world-class travel options. Under the new guidelines, ...
Delays on mail, express, and superfast trains reduced by 6%
Most of the Katra-Banihal section is tunnels which have been constructed using the Himalayan tunneling method
Once the pride of Indian Railways, the Rajdhani Express hasn't lived up to its speed promises decades later. The train seems to be stuck in a slow-motion time loop
Indian Railways plans five new trains from Delhi to Kashmir with enhanced airport-style security and snow-resistant design, marking a major step in connecting the region to the rest of India
IRCTC has informed that it discontinued the scheme of giving compensation to passengers on delay in private trains five years ago. This information was received in response to an application filed by news agency PTI under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was established by the Ministry of Railways with the basic objective of operating the entire catering and tourism activities of the Railways and currently also handles ticket booking and private trains. According to the IRCTC, under this scheme, Rs 26 lakh was given as compensation to the passengers from October 4, 2019 to February 16, 2024. According to the information, in the year 2023-24 alone, compensation of Rs 15.65 lakh was given to the passengers. IRCTC, in response to the RTI, said, The scheme providing compensation in case of delay or running of private trains has been discontinued with effect from February 15, 2024. The Corporation has refused to divulge the re
The first prototype of the Vande Bharat sleeper trainset has been manufactured and will undergo field trials soon, the government informed Parliament on Friday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw added that the timeline for the rollout of the train is subject to a successful completion of the trials. According to the minister, the Vande Bharat sleeper trains, planned for long and medium-distance journeys, are equipped with modern features and passenger amenities. Vaishnaw highlighted some of the distinguished features and amenities of these trains, such as the automatic train protection system Kavach, latest fire-safety standards compliance, crashworthy and jerk-free semi-permanent couplers and anti-climbers, a regenerative braking system for energy efficiency, higher average speed with quick deceleration and acceleration, among others. Talking about medium-distance Vande Bharat train services, Vaishnaw said as on December 2, 136
A total subsidy of Rs 56,993 crore is given every year by the Indian Railways to all categories of passengers, with a 46 per cent rebate on every ticket, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday. Replying to multiple questions in the Lok Sabha on restoring discounts given to various categories of train passengers, he said if the price of a ticket is Rs 100, then the railways charges just Rs 54 for it -- a discount of 46 per cent. "A total of Rs 56,993 crore subsidy is given every year by the Indian Railways to all classes of passengers," Vaishnaw said during the Question Hour. Replying to another question on rapid train service, he said the railways has already started such a service -- Namo Bharat Rapid Rail -- between Bhuj and Ahmedabad and the satisfaction level of passengers is extremely high due to its superior service. Officials said Namo Bharat Rapid Rail has improved intercity connectivity by covering the 359-kilometre distance between Bhuj and Ahmedabad in 5 hou
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has dismissed media reports claiming delay in starting the manufacturing process for Vande Bharat sleeper trains due to design clearance issues. During a media interaction on Thursday, Vaishnaw said that design was never an issue with the Russian firm roped in to manufacture these train sets. Earlier, a section of media quoting officials from the Russian company Transmashholding (TMH) reported that Indian Railways demanded toilets and a pantry car in the train which necessitated tweaking the trains' design. The reports further said the firm addressed Railway Ministry's concerns with a change in design and sent it to the ministry for clearance, which, however, hasn't responded with its consent. As per the contracts, the firm is supposed to manufacture 1,920 sleeper coaches. However, Vaishnaw said these reports were baseless as the real issues were with regard to the limited manufacturing capabilities of the firm because in Russia, trains have less
As many as 136 Vande Bharat train services were operational with enhanced safety features and modern passenger amenities as on November 21, the government has informed the Lok Sabha. In a written reply on Wednesday, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said these safety features and modern passenger amenities were automatic train protection system KAVACH, faster acceleration, fully-sealed gangway, automatic plug doors, better ride comfort, mini pantry with provision of hot case, bottle cooler, deep freezer and hot water boiler, among many others. The minister was responding to questions raised by nine MPs from various political parties who wanted to know the rationale behind launching the Vande Bharat Express, their occupancy, amenities, passenger feedback and services in Maharashtra as well as on the New Delhi-Kathgodam route. Vaishnaw said, "Presently, 22 Vande Bharat services, on originating or terminating basis, are catering to the needs of stations located in the state of ...
Indian Railways is all set up to introduce the country's 1st Vande Bharat Sleeper trainset and this will connect Srinagar and Delhi and run on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL)
Namo Bharat train will start its operation two hours early than usual at 6 am on Sunday on the occasion of Bhai Dooj, the NCRTC said in a statement. Trains will be operated with increased frequency, it said. According to the statement, train services on the operational section of Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will start early on Sunday, operating from 6 am instead of the usual 8 am. It will continue until 10 pm. Generally, Namo Bharat train services operate from 6 am from Monday to Saturday and 8 am on Sunday, it stated. Trains will run with increased frequency throughout the day to accommodate the anticipated higher passenger volume, ensuring a smooth and comfortable travel experience for all, the statement said.
Indian Railways has announced the Delhi-Srinagar Vande Bharat train that will cover over 800 km in 13 hours. The train will depart at 19:00 hrs from Delhi to reach Srinagar at 08:00 hrs
The sleeper version prototype's progress has been slower than expected as Indian Railways is negotiating the acquisition of 24-coach trains
India best bet for 21st century, its solar revolution a golden chapter
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the country's first 'Vande Metro' service on Monday during his two-day visit to Gujarat, an official said. The Ahmedabad-Bhuj Vande Metro is a fully unreserved air-conditioned train for which passengers can buy tickets from the counter shortly before its departure, Western Railway (Ahmedabad division) public relations officer Pradeep Sharma said on Saturday. "It will accommodate 2,058 standing and 1,150 sitting passengers. WR carried out a trial of the service early this week," he added. According to WR officials, the Ahmedabad-Bhuj Vande Metro service will stop at nine stations and cover the 360 kilometre distance in 5 hours and 45 minutes at a top speed of 110 kilometres per hour. It will depart from Bhuj at 5:05am and reach Ahmedabad Junction at 10:50am, they said. The 'Vande Metro' concept is designed on the lines of the indigenous semi-high-speed train Vande Bharat service with fully air-conditioned coaches and the 'KAVACH' ...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off on Saturday three new Vande Bharat trains connecting Meerut with Lucknow, Madurai with Bengaluru and Chennai with Nagercoil. Addressing the flag-off ceremony via video conference, Modi said faster growth of southern states is key to achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. The prime minister also said that an increased budgetary allocation to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka has strengthened rail transport in southern states. The Meerut city-Lucknow Vande Bharat will help passengers save around one hour in comparison to the current fastest train between the two cities. Similarly, the Chennai Egmore-Nagercoil Vande Bharat and the Madurai-Bengaluru Vande Bharat trains will cover the journey saving more than two hours and around 1.30 hours respectively.