PM Modi in Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday will flag off two new Vande Bharat trains in Mumbai. The new semi-high speed trains will run on Mumbai-Pune-Solapur and Mumbai-Nashik Road-Sainagar Shirdi routes.
These will be 9th and 10th Vande Bharat trains which will be put to the service before passengers.
The new Vande Bharat trains will travel through steepest western ghats. In these routes, generally, an additional locomotive called bankers are attached to regular trains to push them during steepest streches.
However, Vande Bharat trains will not be using bankers as it excelled through western ghats easily during trial runs. Instead, they will have parking brakes which will stop the train from rolling down on gradient.
"Tomorrow, 10th February is a special day for Maharashtra, especially for improving connectivity. The Mumbai-Solapur and Mumbai-Sainagar Shirdi Vande Bharat trains will be flagged off. The Santacruz Chembur Link Road and Kurar underpass will also be dedicated to the nation," PM Modi said.
Railways plans to launch 75 new Vande Bharat trains by August 2023.
Apart from Vande Bharat Express, the Indian Railways is also going to launch Vande Metro trains.
"We are also developing Vande Metro... Around big cities, there are large habitations from where people would like to come to the big city for work or leisure, and go back to their home place," Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
"For that, we are coming up with a Vande Bharat equivalent Vande Metro. This year the design and production will be completed, and in the next financial year, a ramp-up of production of the train will be done. These will be like rapid shuttle-like experience for passengers," said Vaishnaw.
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