Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had announced the Vande Bharat train would connect cities that are 6-8 hours apart.
The second 'Vande Bharat' train will be on tracks by mid-April. The new train, featuring improvised safety features, is being designed at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. The train will have 16 coaches, all of which are nearly ready, while its interiors are also being redone. The refurbished train can withstand accidents involving cattle on tracks, while sturdier windows will be safe from stone-pelters.
Sources said that chairman of Railway Board, VK Yadav, visited the factory on Friday and inspected the manufacturing of India's fastest running train. "Work on the second Train18 is almost done. It's likely to be completed by mid-April. But until fencing along all tracks is completed, trespassing will remain a problem," said a railway official. The initial deadline was March 31, but this could be delayed slightly, officials said,
The decision to have a sturdier cattle guard was taken on February 15, when the train, while making a non-commercial run from Varanasi to Delhi, ran over bovines on the tracks. This accident damaged the front portion of the coach. The train's commercial run started from February 17.
Meanwhile, the railways is also looking at giving the train's windows an extra layer of protection. Senior officials said they are looking at the possibility of having transparent or vinyl coated sheets on the windows, which would protect it from miscreants who throw stones. "Because the train travels at such high speeds, even trains coming in the opposite direction can cause ballasts to fly. Such a film could protect the train's windows," explained another railway official.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had announced the Vande Bharat train would connect cities that are 6-8 hours apart. In all, 130 trains are expected to be manufactured. The future ones would also feature sleeper coaches.
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