Centre likely to announce Vande Bharat Express for Kerala, tracks will be upgraded

Monday 28 November, 2022 | 8:18 AM READ MALAYALAM VERSION

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The high-speed Vande Bharat Express train with state-of-the-art facilities for Kerala may be announced in the central budget. The busy Chennai, Bengaluru and Mangaluru routes are under consideration. Southern Railway has also made this recommendation. Thiruvananthapuram Division will be supplied with two units of 16 passenger cars manufactured at Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. Kerala's Vande Bharat Train is expected to be a part of 75 trains to announced across the country by August.

The speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Eranakulam (via Alappuzha) and Shornur-Mangalore routes will be increased to 130 kmph for Vande Bharat. At present the average speed between Ernakulam-Shornur is 80 kmph and Shornur-Mangalore is 110 kmph.

Rail bypasses will be constructed at Kollam and Kuttipuram stations which have sharp bends.

Vande Bharat is running on Chennai-Bangalore-Mysore route from this month. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is putting pressure on the Center for Chennai-Kanyakumari Vande Bharat. It may be extended to Thiruvananthapuram once the doubling of the lane is completed. 44 trains are under construction at Chennai, Kapurthala and Rae Bareli coach factories. Eight trains will be manufactured per month.

Currently there are five Vande Bharat Express

New Delhi-Varanasi

New Delhi- Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra

Gandhinagar-Mumbai

Oona-Delhi in Himachal

Chennai-Bangalore-Mysore

Travel comfortably and safely

'Kavach' to avoid collision

Explosion-proof coaches

It reaches 100 kmph in 52 seconds

The coaches are powered by electric motors underneath

Revolving seats, biotoilet