Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced during his address to the nation on 75th Independence Day that 75 Vande Bharat Express trains will be launched by 15 August 2023. “75 new Vande Bharat express trains will connect every corner of the country in 75 weeks of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav,” the Prime Minister said in his August 15 address from the Red Fort in Delhi.
PM Modi went on to compare the Vande Bharat initiative to the UDAN scheme for flights.
देश ने संकल्प लिया है कि आजादी के अमृत महोत्सव के 75 सप्ताह में 75 वंदेभारत ट्रेनें देश के हर कोने को आपस में जोड़ रही होंगी।आज जिस गति से देश में नए Airports का निर्माण हो रहा है, उड़ान योजना दूर-दराज के इलाकों को जोड़ रही है, वो भी अभूतपूर्व है: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 15, 2021
What is the Vande Bharat initiative?
The first Vande Bharat Express was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 February 2019 on New Delhi-Varanasi route. The Vande Bharat Express is a high speed intercity train built under the Made in India initiative of the Central government. The trains have a speed limit of 180km per hour.
What’s new
The new Vande Bharat Express will have quicker acceleration and modern passenger amenities that include onboard infotainment and GPS based passenger information system. Also, the trains will have CCTV, automatic sliding doors with retractable coach footsteps as well as zero discharge vacuum-based bio-toilets. The news trains will also have heightened security features like four emergency windows and four emergency push buttons instead of two in each coach.
According to the Times of India, the Indian Railways is planning to roll out the new Vande Bharat Express trains from March 2022. The commercial operation of the new trains is expected by June 2022, the report mentioned.
How many Vande Bharat trains are operating now?
The Indian Railways presently operates two Vande Bharat Express trains in the country. The first Vande Bharat Express is running between Varanasi and New Delhi while the second Vande Bharat Express is operating between Katra and New Delhi.
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