“When are the long waitlists in the Indian Railways going to end? With 2.7 crore waitlisted passengers denied a confirmed seat, the year registered the largest number of tickets that remained waitlisted before they were automatically cancelled,” Tharoor wrote on Twitter. This has been the trend, with every year breaking the previous year’s record, the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

“This has been the trend, with every year breaking the previous record. Introduction of #VandeBharat is welcome but the lopsided focus on it is worrying. In our 75th year of Independence, a confirmed railway berth should no longer be merely about luck but a normal facility. The matter must urgently seize the Government’s focused attention,” he added.

In a recent reply to an RTI plea filed by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the Railway Board revealed that in 2022-2023, 1.76 crore Passenger Name Record (PNR) numbers were logged, against which 2.72 crore passengers who were scheduled to travel, were automatically cancelled due to being waitlisted.

In 2021-2022, a total of 1.06 crore PNR numbers were logged, against which 1.65 crore passengers were scheduled to travel, were automatically cancelled. After cancellation of PNRs, the ticket fare is refunded to the passengers. The inability to provide confirmed tickets to passengers has been a recurrent problem with the national transporter, reported PTI.

On the other hand, the Indian Railways has launched multiple Vande Bharat Express trains across India, including the newly inaugurated Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express, which was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Northeast’s first Vande Bharat train.

Source: Bureau

The post ‘Lopsided Focus’ On Vande Bharat Express Worrying: Shashi Tharoor Criticizes Indian Railways For Waitlisted Tickets appeared first on Rma News: Latest News, Live Breaking News, Today News, Political News Updates.

The factory saw a major shortfall in production at the end of FY 2022-23, having manufactured 1,478 coaches against a target of 1,885, according to a document accessed by PTI. The factory could manufacture only 153 3HP MEMU trains till March 2023, against a target of 256, and also fell short of its target for LHB coaches, manufacturing 1,325 of it against the goal of 1,520.

Officials said the production of Vande Bharat trains in the factory is likely to begin by September 2024. This year, the Railway Board has given RCF Kapurthala a target of 64 Vande Bharat Express trains. A senior ministry official said the RCF has not yet completed the process of approving the design sent by French multinational rolling stock manufacturer, Alstom, for Vande Bharat trains.

Out of 92 designs, only four have been approved, a delay that precludes any possibility of start of production of the semi-high speed trains in the current financial year. The rail factory has however put forth a series of reasons explaining why the production of various coaches and variants have been delayed.

According to the document, it said its production rate was affected by a spike in prices of raw materials which led to short fall in supply of trade items such as seats-berth, 60 KVA transformer, switch board cabinet, and shell components/ sub assemblies.

“There was serious shortage of wheel supply from May to September 2022 leading to loss of production. Production of 87 coaches was lost on this account. The delay in supply of electrics by BHEL resulted in production loss of MEMU rakes. VB Trainset Coaches delayed as RCF did not get electrics from M/s Medha,” the document said.

Desperate to lineup 75 trains by August 2024, the Railways has put into service every factory at its disposal — not just the RCF, but even Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareilly, Latur Rail Coach Factory and BHEL.

Source: PTI

The post Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory Fails To Deliver Even Single Vande Bharat Express Train In FY2023 – Report appeared first on Rma News: Latest News, Live Breaking News, Today News, Political News Updates.

While the current version of Vande Bharat Express will be the Chair Car variant for travel between cities located within a distance of 150-600 km, there will also be Vande Bharat Metro for cities within 100-150 km range serving as a Urban train connectivity network and also sleeper version of the Vande Bharat Express, covering distances above 600 km, replacing Rajdhani Express in the longer run. 

Among these, Indian Railways is further working to increase the speed of the Vande Bharat sleeper version that can touch a speed of 220 kmph, 40 kmph more than that of the chair car version of the current generation of Vande Bharat trains. The semi-high speed trains will be made using aluminium, instead of steel, which will reduce the weight of the train, hence increasing the speed.

While the top speed of the sleeper version of Vande Bharat trains will be 220 kmph, making them the fastest trains in India, it will run at a speed of 200 km per hour on the tracks said an Railway official earlier. This also means, once on tracks, the new sleeper Vande Bharat trains will replace Delhi-Meerut RRTS trains as the fastest train in India. The RRTS has a top speed of 180 kmph as well.

The current gen Vande Bharat Express has a top speed of 180 kmph, but only does 160 kmph (on certain sections) due to safety constraints. The Railways has issued a tender for 400 Vande Bharat trains. Some of the initial lot of such trains could also be sleeper versions of the indigenously made trains, according to officials. Four major domestic and foreign companies have come forward for the production.

According to the plan, the first 200 Vande Bharat trains will have the seating arrangement on the lines of Shatabdi Express and will be designed to travel at a speed of 180 km per hour. 

In the second phase, 200 Vande Bharat trains will be sleepers and they will be made of aluminium. “The second version of the sleeper Vande Bharat trains will run at a maximum speed of 200 km per hour. For this, the tracks of Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Kolkata railways are being repaired, signal system, bridges are being fixed, and fencing work is going on,” an official said, reported PTI. 

Source: Bureau

The post Vande Bharat Express To Soon Get 220 Kmph Top Speed, Indian Railways Working On New Trains appeared first on Rma News: Latest News, Live Breaking News, Today News, Political News Updates.