Indian Railway is starting its 2nd Vande Bharat Express on Delhi-Katra Route with the advent of Navratri Festival in the First Week of October 2019. This has been sought to ease the access for pilgrims and devotees visiting the religious abode of Mata Vaishno Devi Dham in Katra during the festival and capitalize through high volume traffic on the route.
Vande-Bharat Express also known as ‘Train 18’ started its first commercial run from 17th February 2019, 2 days after it’s inauguration on 15th February. The firs Vande Bharat Express ran on Delhi-Varanasi route via Kanpur & Allahabad. The 2nd Vande Bharat Express starts its operation on Delhi-Katra route from the beginning of Navratri Festival 2019 and will let devotees and pilgrims travel between the cities in just 8 hours.
Although the trainset has been tested for 180km/hr, its operation speed will be a maximum of 130 km/hr. This is because as explained by a Railway Board official, only 0.3% of the total railway tracks of Indian Railway are capable of supporting speeds of that magnitude.
Union Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal shared the good news of successful test run of Vande Bharat Express on Delhi-Katra route on Twitter.
Further, Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav said, “For Mata Vaishno Devi devotees, the new Vande Bharat Express means a faster and more convenient mode of transport.” According to him, the train has been started with the purpose of travel convenience and to capitalize through the high volume of traffic on the route during the season.
Here is a list of things you should know about one of the most renowned trains of India: Vande Bharat Express or Train 18 of IRCTC:
• Shaped like a Bullet Train, Vande Bharat Express is a Semi-High Speed Intercity Electric Multiple unit Train, designed and built by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. Its development incepted under the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative & it took 18 months to become operational.
• Vande Bharat Express was launched and Inaugurated on 15th February 2019. The train started its first commercial Journey on 17th February 2019 on Delhi-Varanasi Route with stoppages at Kanpur & Allahabad.
• The 2nd train will be running from Delhi from Navratri festival onwards and make Stoppages at Ambala, Ludhiana and Jammu to finally reach Mata Vaishno Devi Dham in Katra.
• The train fare is expected to be anywhere between Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 depending on whether the passenger opts for AC Chair Car or Executive Chair Car.
• The train-set has been tested for running at 180km/hr speed. However, its operational speed will be a maximum of 130 km/hr because of the unavailability of train tracks to handle the level of magnitude.
• A usual superfast train takes 12 hours to travel 665 km of distance between Delhi and Katra. However, Vande Bharat Express will do it in eight hours only by departing from Delhi at 6 am to reach Katra at 2 pm and on the way back leaving Katra at 3 pm to reach Delhi at 11 Pm. The duration of halt at every junction is merely two minutes.
• The 2nd Vande Bharat Express will have a 16 AC Chair Coaches and is a more premium version of the Shatabdi Express trains. It is specially targeted for travel convenience of Pilgrim travelling to the holy abode of Mata Vaishno Devi Dham during Navratri Festival 2019.
• The new train is equipped with several passenger-friendly features such as:
- Automatic doors with Sliding Footsteps.
- Comfortable European-style seating.
- Bio-vacuum type toilets.
- GPS-based audio-visual passenger information system.
- Onboard hotspot WiFi for entertainment purposes.
- Aircraft-style LED lighting.
- Fully sealed gangways.
- A bigger pantry than the first Vande Bharat Express.
- Windows filmed with a special anti-spall film to secure windows in cases of stone-pelting.
Here is a look at the inside of the amazing Vande Bharat Express (Delhi-Katra)
