Source: https://zeenews.india.com/railways/kishan-reddy-flags-off-puri-kasi-ayodhya-bharat-gaurav-tourist-train-from-secunderabad-2600889.html
Publisher: Zee News
India’s first indigenous semi-high speed train – the Vande Bharat Express- has received rave response from the rail passengers as well as the BJP-led government of India. Every single Vande Bharat Express is inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself and is now operational across 17 routes in India. Launched in 2018, the Vande Bharat Express will get three versions – Vande Chair Car, Vande Metro and Vande Sleepers – by February-March next year, confirmed Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The announcement was made at the inaugural run of Dehradun-Delhi Vande Bharat Express.
These indigenous semi-high speed trains, which are being prepped to replace Shatabdis, Rajdhanis and local trains, are being made at the Integrated Coach Factory in Chennai. In an interview with PTI, the Union minister also said that in the next three to four years, Indian Railways will upgrade its tracks to support the maximum speed of 160 kmph of Vande Bharat trains.
Vande Bharat Metro
Among the three upcoming formats of the Vande Bharat Express trains, the Vande Bharat Metro is the most talked about modes of transportation. The metro trains will be a form of semi-high speed urban transportation that will be made available between cities less than 100 kilometres apart. The Vande Bharat Metro, in essence, will be a take on urban rapid transport network, like RAPIDX, India’s first rapid rail transit system.
Recently, Indian Railways cleared procurement of 238 Vande Bharat Metro trains to replace existing sub-urban trains of the Mumbai Local Train network. These trains will provide wi-fi onboard and other modern features, making them the fastest and most modern way of transportation between urban centres.
