The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi flagged off Gandhinagar-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express at Gandhinagar station and travelled on the train from there to Kalupur Railway Station today.
When he arrived at Gandhinagar station, the Prime Minister was accompanied by Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, Governor of Gujarat, Acharya Devvrat, Union Minister of Railways, Ashvini Vaishnav, and Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri.
The Prime Minister inspected the train coaches of the Vande Bharat Express 2.0 and took stock of the onboard facilities. Shri Modi also inspected the control centre of the locomotive engine of Vande Bharat Express 2.0.
The Prime Minister then flagged off the new and upgraded version of Vande Bharat Express between Gandhinagar and Mumbai and travelled on the train from there to Kalupur Railway Station.
The Prime Minister also interacted with his co-passengers including those from the family members of Railways staff, women entrepreneurs and researchers and youngsters. He also interacted with workers, engineers and other staff who toiled to make Vande Bharat trains a shining success.
Boost for connectivity between Gandhinagar and Mumbai
Vande Bharat Express 2.0 between Gandhinagar and Mumbai is going to be a game changer and will boost connectivity between the two business hubs of India. It will enable business owners from Gujarat to travel to Mumbai and vice versa without bearing the brunt of high-cost airline tickets while availing facilities that are available on air. One-way travel time of Vande Bharat Express 2.0 from Gandhinagar to Mumbai is estimated at around five and a half hours.
KAVACH Technology
The Vande Bharat Express 2.0 offers a myriad of superior and aircraft-like travelling experiences. It is equipped with advanced state-of-the-art safety features including an indigenously developed Train Collision Avoidance System (KAVACH).
Advanced and improved features
It will have a Wi-Fi content on-demand facility. Every coach is equipped with 32” screens providing passenger information and infotainment, compared to 24” in the previous version. Vande Bharat Express is also going to be environmentally friendly as the ACs will be 15 per cent more energy efficient.
With dust-free clean air cooling of the traction motor, the travel will become more comfortable. The side recliner seat facility, which was provided only to Executive Class passengers earlier, will now be made available for all classes. Executive Coaches have the added feature of 180-degree rotating seats.
In the new design of Vande Bharat Express, a photo-catalytic ultraviolet air purification system is installed in the Roof-Mounted Package Unit (RMPU) for air purification. As recommended by Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Chandigarh, this system is designed and installed on both ends of RMPU to filter and clean the air free from germs, bacteria, viruses etc. coming through fresh air and return air.
The coaches have emergency talk back units.
The train has better flood proofing for under-slung electrical equipment that will withstand floods up to a height of 650 mm.
Timings and price
It will operate six days a week except Sundays.
The train will depart from the Mumbai Central station at 6.10 am and reach Gandhinagar at 12.30 pm. For the return journey, the train will depart from Gandhinagar at 2.05 pm and arrive at Mumbai Central at 8.35 pm.
It will halt at Surat, Vadodara and Ahmedabad stations in both directions.
The fare for Mumbai-Ahmedabad journey by executive chair car will be Rs 2,505, while that for chair car will be Rs 1,385.
Reaches high speeds with ease
Vande Bharat Express is an indigenously designed semi-High speed self-propelled train set of 16 coaches. The train reaches 160 kmph speed in just 140 seconds and it has better riding comfort for passengers at 3.5 (riding index).
The train has a Coach Control Management System for monitoring air-conditioning, communication and feedback to control centre/maintenance staff through GSM/GPRS. It is fitted with Passenger Information and Infotainment System in every coach, the official said.
