‘Vande Bharat Express can’t travel at high speed on tracks in Kerala, will run at same speed as other trains’, says loco pilot

KOCHI: Loco pilot N Subramanian said that Vande Bharat Express train travels at 80 kmph in Kerala. He was responding to media when the train reached Ernakulam North station. Subramanian was the loco pilot of the train from Erode to Kerala. He stated that Vande Bharat train cannot travel at high speed in Kerala due to sharp bends in railway tracks.

“Vande Bharat Express will travel at the same speed as other trains. The speed will be 80 kmph. It arrived at the same speed from Shornur to Kochi. This train has been running service in Coimbatore-Chennai route from April 8. The train travels at 130 kmph speed between Jolarpet-Chennai stations.”, he added.

Vande Bharat

• Cost- 97 crore per train
• Fully airconditioned coaches
• Automatic doors and steps
• Wi-Fi and GPS in the coaches
• Bio vacuum toilet

200 sharp bends

High-speed trains in Kerala are hampered by sharp bends in railway tracks. There are 620 bends in the 560 km stretch from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram. Of these, the feasibility study to straighten two hundred sharp bends have not reached anywhere. The current speed on the tracks is 60 to 80 kmph.

Ticket prices will go up

From Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur, the ticket charge may be around 1345 rupees for a chair car and 2238 rupees for an executive coach. This is inclusive of the Rs 320 catering charge. The fare may be Rs 605 and Rs 1144 to Ernakulam and Rs 1130 and Rs 2138 to Kozhikode.

2.5 hours to reach Ernakulam

The fastest train currently running in Kerala is Jana Shatabdi. The train reaches Ernakulam from Thiruvananthapuram within 3.17 hours via Alappuzha and 4.10 hours via Kottayam. Jana Shatabdi travels at an average speed of 70 kmph. But Vande Bharat will run at a speed of 90 kmph which means it takes two and a half hours to reach Ernakulam from Thiruvananthapuram. It will reach Kozhikode in five hours and Kannur in six hours. Now Rajdhani Express (7.57 hours) is the fastest to reach Kannur.