Mumbaikars will get another Vande Bharat Express soon! The semi-indigenous high-speed train will operate on Mumbai-Solapur and Mumbai-Shirdi routes. Both trains will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week. With the launch of the train on these two routes, the country will get its ninth and tenth Vande Bharat Express. This is also going to be Central Railways’ 1st and 2nd blue and white trains. Mumbai gets its first Vande Bharat on September 30, 2022. The train operates between Gandhinagar Capital and Mumbai Central.
Mumbai-Solapur Vande Bharat Express
The Vande Bharat Express between Mumbai and Solapur is expected to cover a distance of 400 km in 06:35 hours. The train is likely to run via the Bhor ghat (located between Karjat and Khandala on way to Pune). The 25 km long Bhor ghat is also known as Khandala ghat.
Mumbai-Shirdi Vande Bharat Express
The Vande Bharat Express between Mumbai and Shirdi is likely to cover a distance of 340 km in 5.24 hours. The train will run via the 14 km-long Thal ghat. It is also known as Kasara ghat. It lies between the Kasara and Igatpuri sections of the Central Railway.
About Bhor ghat and Thal ghat
Both Bhor and Thal ghats are among the toughest railway ghat sections in the country. Presently, to avoid incidents of train rollback in case of the parting of coaches, additional locomotives (also called bankers) are being provided to attach on all trains from the Mumbai side. This process of attaching and detaching bankers takes several minutes, which resulted in increased travel time due to technical faults.
Also Read: Indian Railways to launch Vande Metro by year-end; production work in full throttle – Details
Special features of Mumbai-Solapur and Mumbai-Shirdi Vande Bharat Express
To cope with the use of additional locomotives in these ghat sections, the new Vande Bharat Express trains will have parking brakes. These brakes will stop the train from rolling down on a gradient. Ahead of the launch of these two trains, the trial will be conducted on both hilly routes.