The Southern Railway will soon get its first taste of the new Vande Bharat trains.
What’s it about: Four years after the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) rolled out the first rake of the semi-high-speed trains, the Southern Railway will get its first set. An upgraded version of the Vande Bharat trains will be introduced in the Chennai – Bengaluru – Mysuru section to be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 10. It’ll replace the existing Shatabdi Express.
- If you’re expecting the travel time to reduce, not so fast. Upgrading the tracks to run at 130 kmph on the 214 km Chennai – Jolarpettai section isn’t yet complete.
- The trains can run at 160 kmph. The maximum permitted sectional speed between Chennai and Mysuru is 110 kmph. Before the speed is increased, test runs on the sections will be done.
Current situation: Currently, trains run at 50-70 kmph on river bridges and other places in the 143 km Arakkonam – Jolarpettai section. The speed limit on the Jolarpettai – Bengaluru – Mysuru section hasn’t been increased.
(Image credits: JND AMD, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
