Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel from Thiruvananthapuram to Kollam in Vande Bharat Express train as part of its launch on April 25. As per reports, the decision will be taken by the Prime Minister’s Special Protection Group (SPG). As part of choosing the students who will accompany the PM on this brief tour, a painting competition was held at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Pattom.
Meanwhile, the rake arrived in Kerala on Friday ahead of its launch by the PM on April 25 at a function in Thiruvananthapuram. He will also perform the stone-laying for the renovation of the Thiruvananthapuram station on the airport model. The Indian Railways on Monday completed the trial run of the state’s first Vande Bharat Express from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur in 7 hours and 10 minutes. Higher officials and other staff travelled in the modern train allotted to Kerala during the trial run.
Meanwhile, Vande Bharat Express, has been running at an average speed of around 83 kmph over the last two years due to poor track conditions while having a permissible top speed of 130 kmph for commercial services, an RTI reply has revealed. During this period, a train on one route hit an average speed of 95 kmph. The train, which is built to run at a maximum speed of 180 kmph, has a permissible top speed of 130 kmph for commercial services, officials said.
The RTI, filed by Madhya Pradesh-based Chandra Shekhar Gaur, said the average speed of the semi high-speed train was 84.48 kmph in 2021-22 and 81.38 kmph in 2022-23. The trail run in Kerala on Monday showed an average speed of less than 70 kmph. This is likely to bring the national average further down. The Vande Bharat Express is an electric multiple-unit train operated by the Indian Railways. It was designed by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation and manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.
The officials asserted that the speed of such trains depend on the track conditions. While the Mumbai CSMT-Sainagar Shirdi Vande Bharat Express has the lowest average speed of around 64 kmph, the fastest average is maintained by the country’s first Vande Bharat Express train — the New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express — that was launched in 2019 and runs at an average speed of 95 kmph. The Rani Kamalapati (Habibganj)-Hazrat Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express comes a close second, maintaining an average speed of 94 kmph.
Officials said the average speed of Vande Bharat trains is better than Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express trains due to its faster acceleration/deceleration. ‘One has to understand that no mode of transport can maintain its maximum speed throughout its journey. The condition of the surface it is running on determines its speed. The average speed of each Vande Bharat train in every section is faster than the fastest train of that section. For example, it is running with maximum permissible speed of 160 kmph between Agra Cantt–Tughlakabad’, a Railway official said.
Post Your Comments