Railways may miss target of running 75 Vande Bharat trains by August 2023; know the reasons

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Photo: PTI

Indian Railways has set a target of having 75 Vande Bharat trains in operation in the country by August 15 next year. But considering the pace at which manufacturing activities are going on, it is highly unlikely that the government will meet the August 2023 target of running 75 such trains, which are equipped with the latest technology.

According to Indian Railways, some new technology and upgrading is done in every new Vande Bharat train, which eventually also increases the cost. The construction cost of a 16-coach Vande Bharat train has reached around Rs 110 crore-Rs 120 crore, while it was started at a cost of Rs 106 crore. ICF plans to produce around 10 trains every month.

Despite the fact that the construction of these trains has been sped up as the railway’s target is to have seven to eight trains ready every month, it appears that the rolling of the trains may be delayed.

A decision was taken to make Vande Bharat on the lines of Make in India, but even after investing crores of rupees, Vande Bharat is yet to gain the momentum that was expected. It is said that the tender process was stopped many times.

A few weeks ago, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inspected the Vande Bharat trains being manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai. After finding everything in order, he handed them over to the R&D wing of the Railway, Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) at Luck-now. RDSO will inspect the trains and after being completely satisfied, it will give safety clearance, paving the way for rolling out the trains.

So far, five Vande Bharat trains are running in the country and preparations are underway to launch the sixth such train in December.

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