Vande Bharat express trial run to cultural city held successfully

Mysuru: The Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru Vande Bharat High Speed train chugged into the City Railway Station 15 minutes ahead of its scheduled arrival time, on its first trial run between Chennai and Mysuru on Monday.

The trial run has been highly successful in terms of technical and all other aspects, according to sources in the Railway Department. The Vande Bharat train left M.G.R. Central Railway Station, Chennai, at 5.50 this morning on its Down trial run, to arrive at Katpadi Junction (KPD) at 7.23 am. After a two-minute stop, it left at 7.25 am, reached Jolarpettai Junction at 8.30 am from where it arrived at KSR Bengaluru Railway Station at Majestic at 10.25 am.

After a five-minute stop, the train left for its final destination and reached Mysuru City Railway Station at 12.15 pm, 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time of 12.30 pm, covering a distance of about 504 kms in just over six-and-a-half hours.

Passengers clicking photos and selfies with Vande Bharat Express in city this afternoon. The train was received at City Railway Station by E. Vijaya, ADRM, South Western Railway (SWR) and other staff. Sanjeev Kishore, General Manager SWR, B.G. Mallya, General Manager, Southern Railway (SR) and a few top Railway officials travelled in the train's trial run.

After a halt of about 45 minutes, the Vande Bharat High Speed train left Mysuru for Chennai at 1.05 pm on its Up trial run. The Vande Bharat Express, previously known as Train 18, is a high-speed electric multiple unit train operated by the Indian Railways on four routes till Oct.2022. It was designed and manufactured by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at Perambalur near Chennai under the 'Make in India' initiative.

The Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru Vande Bharat train, which had its first trial run today, is the fifth train in the country and the first one to operate in Southern part of India.

The train will be formally introduced on Nov.11, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the country's fifth Vande Bharat Express at Bengaluru and also inaugurate the second terminal of Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) at Benglauru.

The Vande Bharat train has 16 coaches, inclusive of 2 Executive coaches. It is equipped with automatic doors, GPS based audio visual passenger information system, Onboard Hotspot Wi-Fi, for entertainment and a very comfortable seating.

The Executive coaches are fitted with rotary chairs that can revolve 180 degrees. All the seats in the train are numbered.

After the launch on Nov.11, the train will run between Mysuru and Chennai for six days a week. However, the Railways has not planned to replace the present Shatabdi Express, which also runs for six days a week (except Wednesday), for now.Though the Railways has announced the tentative timings of the Vande Bharat Express (departs Chennai at 5.50 am on Down trip and leaves Mysuru at 1.05 pm on Up trip), the timing and the fares are yet to be officially notified.