The 16-coach Vande Bharat sleeper train, which will have an 823-passenger capacity, should be rolled out soon. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently revealed to the media that both the Vande Bharat Sleeper and the Vande Metro trains have entered testing stages. As per reports, the train will start services most likely by Independence Day this year. More than 50 Amrit Bharat trains are also sanctioned and their work has also started, he revealed. In Maharashtra, the Railways is also re-developing 128 stations under the Amrit Bharat station initiative. They will have 22 coaches and are non-AC trains. The railway minister said the production of Vande Bharat trains has reached one per week in 10 days. ‘Vande Metro,’ which is a combination of Vande Bharat and Electric Multiple Unit (EMUs), is a service for cities that are around 100 kilometres apart. It service was supposed to start this month but the authorities have not announced a date yet.
Kerala to get 2 Vande Bharat sleeper trains
The Railway Board is considering a proposal to allot two Vande Bharat sleeper trains to Kerala as per reports. The proposed services are, Kochuveli - Bengaluru and Kanyakumari - Srinagar. The Srinagar Vande Bharat will take the Konkan route and is expected to conduct services thrice a week till Budgam station, which is near Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. This service could be launched after the commissioning of the Udhampur – Srinagar - Baramulla railway track in December this year.