New Vande Bharat train to reach Mumbai by Friday ahead of its launch next week

Of the two soontobe launched Vande Bharat Express trains from Mumbai one is likely to reach the metropolis by Friday morning while another is expected to be brought on February 6 railway officials saidPrime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to launch Vande Bharat Express trains on MumbaiSolapur and MumbaiShirdi routes on February 10 they saidBoth the trains have been manufactured at the Chennaibased Integral Coach Factory These trains will be fitted with parking brakes following which they will undergo trials in the hilly ghat section on the outskirts of Mumbai to check whether they need deployment of additional locomotives to cross this terrainA Vande Bharat train reached Pune yard this morning and is expected to reach Mumbai tonight or early tomorrow The train will undergo trials in the ghat section once it is fitted with parking brakes a senior railway official told PTIThe second such train is expected to be brought on February 6 he saidThe Vande Bharat Express between Mumbai and Solapur is likely to run via the Bhor ghat located between Karjat and Khandala on way to Pune and is expected to cover a distance of around 455 km between the two places in 635 hours On the other hand the MumbaiShirdi semi highspeed train is expected to run via theThal ghat in Kasara on Mumbais outskirts and cover a distance of around 340 between them in 525 hours they saidHaving a gradient of 137 that means for every 37metre run there is a rise of 1 metre both Bhor and Thal ghats are among the toughest Railway ghat sections in the county officials saidHence at present all trains passing through these ghats are hauled up by additional locomotives called bankers from the Mumbai side The additional locomotives used for pushing trains from the rear in high gradient areas in ghats mountain inclines or slopes according to themIn ghat sections bankers are used for pushing trains besides avoiding incidents of train roll back in case of parting of coaches But the process of attaching and detaching bankers takes at least a few minutes increasing travel time due to technical halts an official explainedAlso Read Maharashtra Two held for accepting bribe at regional passport office in MumbaiHowever to cut travel time railway authorities have decided to run these semi highspeed trains on both the routes without attaching bankersThe official said to do away with bankers in ghat sections both Vande Bharat Express trains will be fitted with parking brakes which will stop the train from rolling down on gradient in MumbaiAbout 25 kmlong Bhor ghat also called Khandala ghat is spread between Karjat and Khandala stations while the 14 kmlong Thal ghat also known as Kasara ghat is spread between Kasara and Igatpuri sections Both the high gradient ghats have difficult terrain with multiple tunnels and high viaductsSo far eight Vande Bharat Express trains have been launched on various interstate routes including the one between Mumbai and GandhinagarVande Bharat Express is an indigenously designed semi highspeed selfpropelled train set of 16 coaches The train reaches 160 kmph speed in just 140 seconds and better riding comfort for passengers The train has a control management system for monitoring airconditioning and every coach is fitted with passenger information and infotainment systemFitted with automatic plug doors with sliding footsteps and touch free sliding doors inside coaches the train is equipped with aeroplanelike biovacuum toiletsThe train is also equipped with kavach a train collision avoidance systemThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever