New Vande Bharat trains from Mumbai to undergo trials in ghat sections

Two soon to be launched Vande Bharat Express trains from Mumbai will undergo trials in the hilly ghat sections on the citys outskirts without deployment of additional locomotives before their inauguration railway officials have saidPrime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to launch Vande Bharat Express trains on MumbaiSolapur and MumbaiShirdi routes on February 10 they saidTo cut the travel time railway authorities have decided to run these semi highspeed trains on both the routes without attaching bankers the additional locomotives used for pushing trains from the rear in high gradient areas in ghats mountain inclines or slopes the officials said on TuesdayThe 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 400 km between the two places in 635 hoursOn the other hand the MumbaiShirdi highspeed train is expected to run via the Thal ghat in Kasara on Mumbais outskirts and cover a distance of around 340 km between them in 525 hours they saidAt present all trains passing through these ghats are hauled up by additional locomotives called bankers from the Mumbai sideAccording to the officials they expect to receive the trains from Chennaibased Integrated Coach Factory within the next one week and thereafter the trials will be started immediately on both the ghat sectionsAlso Read Mumbai Metro to increase services to combat crowds commuters demand sixcar trainsBankers are used for pushing trains in ghat sections 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 explainedTo do away with bankers in ghat sections both Vande Bharat Express trains will be fitted with parking brakes in which will stop the train from rolling down on gradient the official 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 according to the officialsThe nearly 25kmlong Bhor ghat also called Khandala ghat is spread between Karjat and Khandala stations while the 14kmlong Thal ghat also known as Kasara ghat is spread between Kasara and Igatpuri sections Both the ghats have multiple tunnels and high viaductsSo far eight Vande Bharat Express trains have been launched on various interstate routes including one between Mumbai and GandhinagarVande Bharat Express is an indigenously designed semi highspeed selfpropelled train set of 16 coaches The train reaches a speed of 160 kmph in just 140 seconds and provides better riding comfort for passengersThe 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