All You Need To Know About The Newly Launched ‘Vande Metro’ (image-twitter/Gujju_Er)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the country’s first ‘Vande Metro’ service in his home state of Gujarat during his two-day visit. A trial run was conducted by the Western Railway’s Ahmedabad division last week.
Following the inaugural ceremony by PM Modi, the train will commence its journey from Bhuj and arrive in Ahmedabad. The train will cover a distance of 359 km in 5 hours and 45 minutes. Regular services of ‘Vande Metro’ will begin on September 17.
The railway just hours before the inauguration ceremony changed the name of ‘Vande Metro’ to ‘Namo Bharat Rapid Rail’.
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The train will operate six days a week, with the Bhuj service closed on Saturdays and the Ahmedabad service closed on Sundays. The metro has the capacity to carry passengers up to 2,058, with seatings for 1,150. The fully air-conditioned metro is fitted with cushioned sofas for seating.
Though the metro resembles the Vande Bharat Express, its features are more typical of suburban metro systems, like automatic sliding doors and engines at both ends.
Similar to metro trains, Indian Railways Vande Metro train will also have automatic entry/exit doors for passengers. Each coach has 4 automatic doors.
More features are added to Vande Bharat coaches like light aluminium racks for passengers to keep their luggage and mobile charging sockets for the convenience of passengers.
Moreover, the Vande Metro is a fully air-conditioned train with wide panoramic windows.
Similar to Vande Bharat Express, the new train is also fitted with bio-vacuum toilets and is also equipped with the indigenous Kavach anti-train collision system for the safety of passengers.
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The Vande Metro will be fully unreserved, allowing passengers to purchase tickets shortly before departure.
As for the fare structure of the train, the minimum ticket price begins at Rs 30, inclusive of GST, with exact fares yet to be confirmed.
Excluding GST, a one-way trip from Bhuj to Ahmedabad is estimated to cost around Rs 430. The service also offers weekly, fortnightly, and monthly season tickets at rates equivalent to Rs 7, Rs 15, and Rs 20 single journeys.
The train which will run in the Bhuj-Ahmedabad route in Gujarat, has stops at Sabarmati, Chandoliya, Viramgam, Dhrangadhra, Halvad, Samakhiali, Bhachau, Gandhidham, Anjar, Bhuj en route.
