PUNE: The Railway Board has finalised five routes in the first phase of launching of Vande Sadharan Express and 18 more routes are proposed. However, Pune does not figure in the routes. Many passengers travel to Darbhanga, Howrah and Gorakhapur from Pune. Hence, passengers expect that people’s representatives and the railway administration should make efforts to start Vande Sadharan Express from Pune in the second phase.
The fares of Vande Bharat Express are beyond the means of the common man and hence, the trains are getting a poor response. Against this background, the Railways decided to launch this train by considering the demands of the common man. The common man will get an experience of travelling by a train operating at a speed of 130 km per hour.
The coaches have been built at the Integral Coach Factory at Chennai. The first rake has arrived in Mumbai and a trial will be held shortly. The Railways have spent ₹65 crore on building the train having 22 coaches.
Although Mumbai-Solapur-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express travels via Pune, the train does not belong to Pune division. There is a demand of starting Vande Bharat Express to Secunderabad, Nagpur and Ahmedabad. A proposal of setting up a coaching depot in Pune for maintenance of Vande Bharat Express by spending ₹90 crore has been approved. However, Pune still awaits the starting of Vande Bharat Express from the city.
Approved routes
1) New Delhi-Patna
2) New Delhi-Howrah
3) New Delhi-Hyderabad
4) New Delhi-Mumbai
5) Ernakulam-Guwahati
Proposed routes
1) Mumbai – Chhapra
2) Mangaluru – Kolkata
3) Mumbai – Raksul
4) Nagercoil – Hyderabad
5) Mumbai – Jammu Tawi
6) Nagercoil – Okha
7) Ahmedabad – Darbhanga
8) Tanakpur – Singrauli
9) Porbandar – Kolkata
10) Jammu Tawi – Guwahati
11) Udhna – Jaynagar
12) Gorakhpur – Mumbai
13) Ludhiana – Darbhanga
14) Muzzafarpur – Ahmedabad
15) Howrah – Ahmedabad
16) Varanasi – Darbhanga
17) Saharsa – Amritsar
18) Mangaluru – Mumbai
Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve said, “The manufacturing of coaches of Vande Sadharan Express has just begun. The Railway Board decides about the routes. Although Pune has not been included in the first phase, it will be included in the future.”
