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Chennai's Integral Coach Factory To Develop India's First 250 kmph Train
The Ministry of Railways has commissioned Chennai's Integral Coach Factory (ICF) to develop and build India's first train capable of reaching speeds of 250 kmph.
Currently, Vande Bharat trains can run at speeds of 180 kmph. The new trains are expected to be ready within a year.
Chennai hosts one of the country's most renowned rail coach manufacturing facilities. This facility is responsible for producing the Vande Bharat train, which is almost on par with international bullet trains in terms of technology and quality.
Most trains in India currently have a maximum operational speed of around 150 kmph. ICF surprised everyone by building the Vande Bharat train, which can run at speeds up to 180 kmph, significantly reducing travel times.
The Ministry of Railways has now given a new order to ICF in Chennai. According to this order, ICF is tasked with manufacturing two train sets within a year that will be able to run at speeds of 250 kmph.
ICF plans to use the same platform that was used for the production of the Vande Bharat trains for these new trains as well. Each train set will have eight coaches. Preparations are underway to start work on these new trains at the ICF facility soon.
Standard-Gauge Tracks
These new train sets will not be designed for India's broad-gauge railway network. Instead, they will use standard-gauge tracks.
New standard-gauge tracks have already been laid down in Rajasthan about a year ago, which will now be used to test these new trains.
A majority of the world's railway networks use standard-gauge tracks. If India successfully builds and tests these new trains, they can be exported to other countries as well.
Potential for Export
If the development and testing are successful, these two train sets are likely to be exported. This mirrors how the Vande Bharat train was first developed and tested before being exported under the name Train 18.
After successful testing, the design may be reworked slightly to suit Indian railway tracks and then introduced for domestic use in India. This approach was also used for developing the Vande Bharat train based on Train 18's design.
DriveSpark Thinks
If India successfully develops and builds a train that can run at speeds of 250 kmph indigenously, it will be a significant achievement. Currently, bullet trains are the fastest in the world, and this project aims to build something nearly as fast.
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