Railway readies faster non-AC Amrit Bharat trains

The Indian Railways will soon deploy faster non-airconditioned (non-AC) services called Amrit Bharat trains, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Monday. Speaking to journalists after inspecting one such train which uses ‘Push-Pull’ technology, he said the new technology and will be faster than existing ones on the Indian Railways network.

“This train will be faster due to speedier acceleration and will save around two hours over a long distance such as Delhi to Kolkata,” he said while adding that the first two trains will be non-air-conditioned (non-AC).

Under ‘Push-Pull’ technology, two engines (one at front and one at rear) are installed to work in tandem for each trainset. It is expected to be faster and more comfortable with lesser jerks during travel.

An official statement said these non-AC trains will have 22 coaches with 12 Second Class 3- Tier Sleeper Class, eight General Second Class coaches, and two Guard Compartments. The maximum permissible speed of these trains is 130 kilometres per hour (kmph).

Vaishnaw said Prime Minister Modi will ‘most probably flag off this train from Ayodhya.’ “It will be on General run for a up to five months to identify any shortcomings and technical challenges,” he said while noting that these trains will eventually ply to all states of the country.

The Minister said that around 20 to 30 trains of the Amrit Bharat train will be made every month, and these will come pre-installed with anti-collision avoidance Kavach technology.