South India is all set to receive the first set of Vande Bharat trains on November 11. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the new train between Mysore and Chennai. The trial run of the train was done from MG Ramachandran Central Railway Station in Chennai. The Mysore-Chennai Vande Bharat train will be India’s fifth semi-high-speed train. Apart from this, PM Modi is also set to inaugurate the new terminal of Kempegowda International Airport. These new projects are aimed at giving better connectivity to the city.
Significantly, the first Vande Bharat Express train was started on the Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi route. After this, three more trains have been run on different routes. The latest of these trains were flagged off by PM Modi on Delhi-Una thereby reducing travel time and improving connectivity on the route.
This train represents the next significant advancement of Indian Railways in terms of convenience and speed. Due to faster acceleration and deceleration, it can reach higher speeds and will reduce travel time from 25 percent to 45 percent. For example, the journey between New Delhi and Varanasi will take eight hours, which is 40-50 percent faster than the fastest train running between these two cities.
In addition, each coach has an automatic door, a GPS based audio-visual passenger information system, an onboard hotspot for Wi-Fi and extremely comfortable seating. Additionally, there are chairs in the working class. All bathrooms have bio-vacuum toilets. There are two types of lighting: diffused for overall illumination and individual for each seat.
Now all classes will have the facility of side recliner seat which is available to the executive class passengers. The 180-degree reciprocating seats are an added bonus for executive coaches. Additionally, the train will offer touch-free bio-vacuum toilets.
For enhanced operational safety, Vande Bharat 2.0 trains are equipped with Kavach (Train Collision Avoidance System). The security will be increased by having four emergency windows in each coach. Instead of just two, there will now be four platform side cameras, including a rearview camera on the outside of the coach.
