🚆 Vande Bharat: Shaking Up Airlines?
Vande Bharat is redefining travel in India. How? Read on.
Are you going to Ayodhya for the Ram Mandir inauguration?
Are the sky-high flight tickets blinding you?
What about the more economical trains?
Nope, we’re not talking about the dirty toilets, long delays and disappointing travel experiences.
We’re talking about speed and comfort.
Yes, Vande Bharat has made these adjectives possible for train journeys in India.
Buckle up, as we walk through the journey of Vande Bharat and how it is redefining travel in India.
The Making of Vande Bharat
Vande Bharat was the brainchild of Sudhanshu Mani, the General Manager of the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.
What sparked the idea? And how did it come to being?
The year was 2016.
Indian Railways was considering importing semi-high-speed trains.
That’s when Mani thought “Why import when we can create something epic right here in India?”
He proposed the bold idea.
He wanted to build a cheaper, semi-high speed train using domestic technology - this could match imported trains in both quality and speed!
The idea was initially met with skepticism, but Mani's persistence paid off, and the project received the green light.
With a dedicated team of 50 railway engineers and 500 factory workers, Mani embarked on a journey to design and build the prototype.
In December 2018, the then-called Train18 was ready for testing.
Later, it was renamed to Vande Bharat.
In 2019, the first train was launched - running from Delhi to Vanarasi.
From ideation to technology, a 100% Made in India product.
With a speed of 180 kmph, Vande Bharat Express even beat a typical bullet train in just 52 seconds!
Fast forward to 2024, and the Indian Railways is on a roll, literally!
With plans to roll out 100 Vande Bharat trains by March 2024, it is connecting cities, people, and hearts across India.
And guess what?
There's a sleeper version coming soon, all set to give the Rajdhani a run for its money!
It's not just Rajdhani that Vande Bharat is competing against.
It is also giving airlines a run for their money.
Shaking Up the Skies
Yes, Vande Bharat is redefining train travel with its flight-like services.
Fancy a concierge or craving gourmet food?
You got it!
Automatic doors, sensor-based water taps, roller blinds - you have it all!
And hey, there's WiFi too!
All at a cheaper fare.
How cheap, you ask?
Say you want to travel from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
Let's take two cases.
Case 1: By Vande Bharat
A chair car ticket: Rs. 1,200
An executive ticket: Rs. 2,295
Case 2: By air
Cheapest ticket: Rs. 2,160
Thinking ‘but a flight would be faster’?
Think again.
The train journey is five hours and twenty five minutes long.
The flight is one hour and ten minutes.
But, hey.
Don't forget to account for the travel time to the airport, a 2-hour waiting period, waiting for security check and baggage, and whatnot.
Clearly, people are swiftly switching to trains now.
Result?
Flight ticket prices on many routes have gone down by 30%.
Air passenger traffic has also decreased.
Railways or Airways?
And hey, it's not just the train journey that Vande Bharat is redefining.
Train stations are also getting a makeover!
You see, flying is not just about going from place A to place B.
From traveling to the airport to waiting in the lounge to shopping before boarding, it's an experience.
And now, railways are coming for them!
In August 2023, the government laid the foundation for the redevelopment of 508 stations nationwide at a cost of Rs. 24,470 crore.
These stations will be no less than airports.
Lounges, restaurants, ATMs, charging points, medical facilities, escalators - they will have it all!
Vande Bharat is just the beginning.
Indian Railways is set to blur the lines between the skies and the tracks.
Indian Railways is set to redefine travel in India.
Have you used the Vande Bharat? How was your experience?
Let us know in the comments!
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