Hyderabad: Vande Bharat Express, the country’s fastest and engineless trains designed to provide high-speed connectivity to major cities, will soon be operated in the two Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
While the Vande Bharat run on five routes around the country, with the first one flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from New Delhi on February 15, 2019, plans are afoot to introduce the service from Secunderabad to Vijayawada, Union minister G. Kishan Reddy told the media on Tuesday.
No state will be left out of the Vande Bharat railway network, and services will be introduced across the country in phases, he said. “I have requested that the service be extended up to Visakhapatnam,” he stated, adding that work is underway to strengthen the track to suit the Vande Bharat Express, which can reach speeds of up to 160 kmph.
The maximum speed permitted on the South Central Railway’s Secunderabad-Vijayawada section is 130 kmph, while the maximum speed for passenger express trains from Vijayawada to Visakhapatnam is 110 kmph. “Track strengthening work is underway to allow faster trains,” stated an SCR official.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had stated in the Union Budget 2022-23 that 400 next generation Vande Bharat trains with improved energy efficiency and passenger riding experience will be developed and manufactured in the country over the next three years.
The Vande Bharat Express is India’s first engineless train, with fully automatic doors and fully air conditioned compartments. However, there are plans to introduce sleeper class coaches in the near future. The trains also have on-board Wi-Fi and an automated passenger information system that alerts passengers about the upcoming station.
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