Vande Bharat takes around 5 hours in Ahmedabad-Mumbai trial run, breaks bullet train record

In a good news to commuters, Indian Railways has conducted a successful trail of semi-high speed intercity train, Vande Bharat Express, on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. According to reports, the stopless journey between the two cities took little over 5 hours in the trial.

During the trail, the Vande Bharat train also broke the record of bullet train. The train reached the speed from 0-100 kmph in 52 seconds as compared to the earlier version which attained the same speed in 54.6 seconds.

As per the report, the train clocked five hours and 14 minutes to cover 491 km non-stop distance from Ahmedabad to Mumbai at the maximum speed of 130kmph. On return, the train clocked five hours and four minutes, officials said. With stoppages, the travel time between the two cities is likely to come around 6 hours.



If all goes according to plan, railways may start the service between the two cities by Dussehra or Diwali. To start the new service, Railways will need a clearance from the Chief Commissioner Railway Safety after the trial runs.

The route already has faster trains services on this route like Shatabdi and IRCTC's Tejas Express. Shatabdi takes six hours and 15 minutes, while Tejas takes six hours and 20 minutes. Government is also working on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train. With the start of bullet train in future the same distance will be covered in 2-3 hours at a speed of 320kmph.

The Make-in-India Vande Bharat trains currently run on the Varanasi-New Delhi route. Each Vande Bharat train carries 16 AC coaches with 180-degree revolving chairs and a seating capacity of 1,128 passengers. It also has a train collision avoidance system to prevent signal passing at danger spots and unsafe situations arising out of over-speeding and train collisions in station areas. The Railways has set a target of manufacturing 75 such trains by August 2023.