A railway official told TOI that for Vande Bharat Express to run properly on the Delhi-Jaipur route a different type of pantograph had to be used. “Vande Bharat Express has a pantograph on the roof of every alternate coach. However, since the height of wires is more on the Delhi-Jaipur, ICF is making use of high rise pantographs,” the official said.
High rise pantograph on Vande Bharat Express
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was recently in Rajasthan to review the maintenance provisions for Vande Bharat Express trains in Jaipur. The new Vande Bharat Express is expected to reach Jaipur by the end of this week. The North Western railway zone has already asked IRCTC to start making provisions for onboard catering on the new train.
Vande Bharat at 200 kmph: How aluminium trains will be transformational for Indian Railways
The final route and fares of Vande Bharat between Delhi and Jaipur is yet to be decided. Another railway official told TOI that due to fewer halts the train will take less time compared to the fastest train on the route. “At present, it takes over 4 hours and 30 minutes between Delhi and Jaipur. With Vande Bharat we expect a reduction of about 30 minutes,” the official said.
The Delhi-Jaipur Vande Bharat Express is likely to be the 11th Vande Bharat train service on the Indian Railways network. The all air-conditioned chair car service will be the first Vande Bharat train for Rajasthan and the fourth from Delhi. At present, three Vande Bharat Express trains originate from Delhi; New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat, New Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat and New Delhi-Amb Andaura Vande Bharat.
Indian Railways aims to roll out 75 chair car Vande Bharat Express trains in total. A plan is in place to manufacture 200 sleeper versions of Vande Bharat Express, which will be a more premium version of the Rajdhani Express train service. Additionally, Indian Railways is also hoping to for the first time get technological prowess to make aluminium train sets in India.
