Indian Railways‘ Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has planned to manufacture around 30 rakes of Vande Bharat Express train in the next fiscal year. Presently, the ICF has produced 10 rakes of India’s first indigenous semi-high-speed train since 2018-19.
Speaking to FinancialExpress.com, an ICF spokesperson said, “so far we have turned out 10 rakes, two in 2018-19 on the Train 18 platform and 8 in Vande Bharat Version 2.0 design with various safety and passenger features. In the future, there may be more. Earlier, it was one rake per month. Now it is 2 rakes.”
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He further added, “in the future, about or after March, it will be increased to 3-4 rakes per month, depending upon the supply inputs.”
ICF budgetary allotment for FY 2023-24:
Indian Railways has received a budgetary outlay of Rs 2.41 lakh crore for the financial year 2023-24. Out of this allotment, the Chennai-based factory has received Rs 15,428 crore. The railways have also allotted a fund of Rs 67 crores for improving the infrastructure for the manufacture of more blue and white train coaches.
Vande Bharat Express with Sleeper Class:
The railways have planned to roll out the sleeper class version of this new-age train. “It is only in the concept stage. May take time after the completion of the tender process and so on,” the ICF official added.
New features in Vande Bharat Express train:
In the near future, the Vande Bharat Express will be added with new features on the demand of the passengers. “The new feature is an ongoing process depending upon the demands of the passengers and inputs from zonal railways,” the railway official told FinancialExpress.com.
At present, the Vande Bharat Express train offers a better ride for passengers. The train has automatic plug doors, touch-free sliding doors, revolving seats in Executive class, 32 inches passenger information and infotainment system in every coach, etc. Apart from this, the train has many security features as well like the introduction of KAVACH, CCTVs, better fire safety measures, and many others. It takes just 129 seconds to reach a speed of 160 km/hour.
Earlier this month, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the production of blue and white color trains will increase. Speaking at a press conference on February 01, the Minister said, “The production of Vande Bharat will be further ramped up. Now, the manufacturing of this semi-high-speed will take place in Haryana’s Sonipat, Maharashtra’s Latur, and Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareilly.”