The West Central Railway’s Kota division witnessed a successful trial run of a newly-built 16-coach Vande Bharat Metro rake, reaching a top speed of 145 km/h on Saturday. The trial, conducted by the Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) team from Lucknow, marked a key milestone in the ongoing development of India’s advanced rail network.
According to an official statement from the railway authorities, the Vande Bharat Metro rake was tested between Kota and Mahidpur Road stations in the ‘up’ direction and between Mahidpur Road and Shamgarh stations on the ‘down’ line. Over two round trips, the rake’s performance was evaluated at varying speeds to assess critical technical parameters.
Simulated Passenger Load for Realistic Conditions
Rohit Malviya, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of the Kota division, explained that the trial was conducted under real-world conditions, with each coach loaded to simulate the weight of passengers, totaling 24.7 tonnes. “The train was run at a maximum speed of 145 km/h for approximately 50 kilometres during the trial, and we are very pleased with the results,” Malviya said in the press release.
Instrumentation work on the rake is scheduled for Sunday, with further tests on the train’s speed and braking system to be conducted over the next 15 days.
The trials are being overseen by RDSO’s Director of Testing, B M Siddiqui. The successful completion of this trial follows previous tests of Vande Bharat rakes with 18 and 20 coaches, also conducted in the Kota division.