Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw unveiled the prototype of the Vande Bharat sleeper coach at BEML’s facility on Sunday. The coach will undergo rigorous trials over the next 10 days before it is tested on tracks for further evaluation, Vaishnaw informed reporters. He anticipated that the train would be ready for passenger service within the next three months.
Additionally, the minister laid the foundation stone for a new Vande Bharat manufacturing facility on the Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) premises.
On August 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three new Vande Bharat Express trains via video conferencing. These semi-high-speed trains will enhance connectivity on key routes across Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. The new trains are the Meerut–Lucknow Vande Bharat Express, the Madurai–Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express and the Chennai–Nagercoil Vande Bharat Express.
PM Modi highlighted that there are currently 102 Vande Bharat trains in operation nationwide, with over 300 crore passengers having travelled on them, underscoring the success of the Vande Bharat initiative. He also announced plans to introduce a sleeper version of the Vande Bharat trains and launch the Vande Metro. Furthermore, he mentioned that renovations are underway at more than 1,300 railway stations.
With inputs from PTI