Election-bound Himachal Pradesh is likely to get the fourth Vande Bharat Express. According to sources, the fourth rake of the train has been manufactured and is likely to reach Delhi by October 15.
“The formal launch after final testing could take place by the end of the month,” said a person familiar with the development, adding that it could be flagged off just after Diwali around November 1.
A possible route for the fourth Vande Bharat Express that is being discussed is Delhi-Chandigarh-Una in Himachal Pradesh.
The third Vande Bharat Express was launched in another poll-bound State of Gujarat from Gandhinagar to Mumbai by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.
Second-generation VB trains
According to sources, production of Vande Bharat rakes is also expected to now start picking up with more rakes being manufactured in the coming months. The indigenously-developed, semi-high-speed trains are manufactured at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.
It has been widely expected that the fourth train would be launched in southern India, which has not got any of these trains till now.
The other two trains operate on the New Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi and the Delhi-Katra route.
The third and fourth are the second-generation Vande Bharat trains with improved features such as reaching the speed of 0 to 100 km per hour (kmph) in just 52 seconds, and a maximum speed up to 180 kmph. These also have better amenities such as WiFi content on demand and reclining seats.