Vande Bharat Express creates unique record! Indian Railways engine-less semi-high speed train, the Vande Bharat Express, has created a unique record of being punctual on almost all days of service in April. According to an Amar Ujala report, the self-propelled Vande Bharat Express travelled the distance between Delhi and Varanasi in 8 hours, creating a punctuality record of not being late for even a second. For as many as 25 days in the month of April 2019, the Vande Bharat Express, which runs stops at the Kanpur and Allahabad junctions during its journey, reached the Allahabad Junction in just 6.08 hours which is before its usual schedule, the report said. The punctuality record for Vande Bharat Express, which is being called the future of railway travel in India, assumes significance as the national transporter often faces criticism for delays in its train services.
Vande Bharat Express: Schedule timings and stations
The Vande Bharat Express runs for five days a week and starts from New Delhi at 6:00 AM, reaching Varanasi at 2:00 PM. The train covers the 770 km distance between Delhi and Varanasi in a record time of eight hours. This distance was covered by the semi high-speed train without any delay for 25 days in the last month, including its stoppages at Kanpur and Prayagraj stations. The Vande Bharat Express is the country’s fastest engine-less train at 180 kmph, though it hits a maximum on 130 kmph on the Delhi-Varanasi stretch due to track restrictions. The Train 18 or Vande Bharat Express train sets are expected to replace the Shatabdi Express trains across the Indian Railways network. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the much awaited Train 18 in the month of February this year. The self-propelled train has been manufactured under PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative at a cost of Rs 97 crore by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.
Watch video: 20 mind-blowing facts about engine-less Vande Bharat Express
The 16 coach train with all air-conditioned chair cars has both the non-executive as well as executive chair car coaches. The state-of-the-art train has an international look and feel, and several countries have already expressed export interest. The new Vande Bharat Express boasts of many attractive features such as European-style comfortable seats, aircraft-like diffused lighting, rotating seats in the Executive chair car, modular bio-vacuum toilets, swanky mini pantry, fully sealed gangways for dust-free environment and easy movement of passengers, automatic temperature control system, automatic doors with sliding footsteps, disabled-friendly toilets as well as wheelchair parking spaces.
