Governance
In News:
- Government of India said that Indian Railways has successfully completed trials of the second generation Vande Bharat train that will come with enhanced passenger comfort and safety features.
- Regular production of these trains will begin from October.
- The Railways has set a target of rolling out 75 such trains by August 2023.
About Vande Bharat Trains
- In the Union Budget for 2022-2023, the Finance Minister has proposed the development and manufacture of 400 new Vande Bharat trains in the next three years.
- These trains, dubbed as Train 18 during the development phase, operate without a locomotive and are based on a propulsion system called distributed traction power technology, by which each car of the train set is powered.
- The new train, which touched a speed of 180 kmph during trials, will be primarily made at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.
- The train can accelerate from 0-100 kmph in 52 seconds and reach a speed of 160 kmph in 130 seconds as compared to the earlier version, which can go from 0-100 kmph in 54.6 seconds and 160 kmph in 146 seconds.
- The weight of the train is also lesser by 38 tonne.
- The new Vande Bharat has made-in-India ‘photo-catalytic ultra violet air purification system’ that will filter and clean the air, deactivating 99.9% of viruses and bacteria.
- The train will have higher battery back up of three hours and a better flood level.
- It will also offer wifi-enabled content on demand.
- The trains will be pre-fitted with the Kavach (the indigenously-developed train collision avoidance system).
Source: The Hindu
