8-car mini Vande Bharat trains receive funds from Union budget; to run intercity

To provide a faster journey for passengers on intercity routes, the Indian Railways is planning to roll out mini versions of semi-high speed Vande Bharat trains, for which funds have been allocated from the Union Budget, reports from Hindustan Times stated.

According to sources, funds have been set aside for eight-car Vande Bharat trains, which will cost Rs 65 crore per rake. In a bid to run environmentally friendly trains, the engines will be powered by hydrogen, which will cost around Rs 80 crore. These trains will run on heritage rail lines, including the Neral-Matheran route.

The Indian Railways plans to build 1,000 Vande Bharat rakes with an 8-car configuration at a cost of 8.125 crore per coach. A budget of 10 lakh has been set aside for the fiscal year 2023-24, specifically for concept design and primary research.

The eight-car versions are being developed at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, and will be manufactured at Rai Bareilly, Latur, and Sonipat workshops.

A railway official said that the trains would be launched for connecting cities/towns that are less than 100-150 kilometres apart.

The routes for such trains include Kalka-Shimla, Matheran Hill, Nilgiri Mountain Railways, Darjeeling Hills, Kangra Railways, and the Bilimora-Waghai Line among others

Vande Bharat Metro to be launched soon

Following the countrywide success of Vande Bharat Express, Vande Bharat Metro is all set to be introduced across various cities to ease intercity travel for the citizens.

One of India's major urban cities, Bengaluru will be among the first cities to get the Vande Metro.

The ongoing railway projects in the city, including the doubling and quadrupling of lines and the construction of infrastructure to maintain Vande Bharat trains, will aid in the launch of Vande Metro.