Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Rajasthan’s first Vande Bharat Express train, via video conference, on Wednesday. The regular service of the train will begin from April 12. It will run between Ajmer and Delhi Cantt, with stops at major cities like Jaipur, Alwar and Gurugram.
“Our government is making constant efforts to make rail travel safe and equipped with facilities. At 11 am today, I will get the privilege of flagging off Vande Bharat Express between Delhi Cantt and Ajmer," PM Modi tweeted in Hindi.
The prime minister had last week flagged off Secunderabad-Tirupati and Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat trains. The train between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh has reduced the travelling time by three-and-a-half hours, which is especially beneficial for the pilgrims.
The Tamil Nadu train has cut the travel time between the state capital and the industrial city of Coimbatore by more than an hour. It is the fastest train between the two cities with a travel time of five hours 50 minutes, saving more than an hour.
Features of Ajmer-Delhi Cantt Vande Bharat Train
• The Ajmer-Delhi Cantt Vande Bharat Express will be the world’s first semi-high speed passenger train on the High Rise Overhead Electric (OHE) sector.
• It will cover the distance between Ajmer and Delhi Cantt in five hours and fifteen minutes. Presently, the fastest train on this route is Shatabdi Express, which travels between the two cities in six hours and fifteen minutes. Thus, Vande Bharat Express will be 60 minutes faster than the existing express train running on that route.
• Rajasthan’s Vande Bharat train is also expected to boost the socio-economic development in the region by improving connectivity to major tourist sites like Pushkar and Ajmer Sharif Dargah.
• The train will have aircraft-style seats that offers better sitting and reclining comfort.
• Four emergency windows will be available in every coach for easy evacuation of passengers in case of an untoward incident.
• It will also have the indigenous system ‘Kavach’, which is an automatic train protection system to avoid train collisions. ‘Kavach’ is meant to provide protection by preventing trains from passing the signal at Danger (Red) and avoiding collision. It activates the train braking system automatically.
• All the classes have reclining seats, while executive coaches are also equipped with 180-degree rotating seats. These rotational seats can be aligned in the direction of travel.
• There are 32-inch screens which arm the travellers with audio-visual passenger information and provide them with infotainment.
• The train has washrooms that are disabled-friendly and seat handles have seat numbers in Braille.
• The train has automatic doors, fire sensors, CCTV cameras, on-board Wi-Fi facilities, three-hour battery backup and GPS. All its parts are made in India.
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