The Southern Railway has planned to operate six Vande Bharat trains connecting Chennai with other capital cities of neighbouring states, reported Economic Times. The railways is expected to allot total 13 rakes of the semi-high speed train that can run at a speed of 160 kmph. This is the highest number of rakes being allotted after Northern Railways.
The Southern Railway has also started preparing its staff and maintenance yards to familiarize them with the modern rakes. The ministry, too, has asked the zones to prepare the maintenance yards for the new trains.
With the induction of the Vande Bharat trains, the railways is aiming to improve connectivity between Chennai and other capital cities of neighbouring states. Reportedly, the new rakes are likely to replace other premium trains like Rajdhani, Duronto, and Shatabdi.
The new Vande Bharat trains are likely to start operating from August next year although the routes are not known yet.
“Many rounds of discussions are going on about managing rakes that will come for Southern Railway,” an official was quoted as saying. He added that some of the existing lines will be removed so that the pit lines could be readied.
Further, the official highlighted that the modern rakes come as a set and have electronics-driven components. Hence, the maintenance staff will need adequate training as handling these new rakes will be different from that of express trains, he added.
A depot will also be developed by the Bengaluru division of the South Western Railway for the Vande Bharat trains. For this, the zone has also started assessing the feasibility of building the new depot.
Currently, two rakes of Vande Bharat trains are being operated. While one runs on the New Delhi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra route, the other operates on the Delhi-Varanasi sections. The rakes are manufactured by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and are maintained at New Delhi’s Shakurbasti coach depot.
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