Mumbai: Two soon-to-be-launched Vande Bharat Express trains from Mumbai will undergo trials in the hilly ghat sections on the city's outskirts without deployment of additional locomotives before their inauguration next month, Railway officials said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to launch Vande Bharat Express trains on Mumbai-Solapur and Mumbai-Shirdi routes on February 10, they said.
To cut travel time, Railway authorities have decided to run these semi-high-speed trains on both routes without attaching bankers, the additional locomotives used for pushing trains from the rear in high gradient areas in ghats (mountain inclines or slopes), said the officials. The Vande Bharat Express between Mumbai and Solapur is likely to run via the Bhor ghat (located between Karjat and Khandala on way to Pune) and is expected to cover a distance of around 400 between the two places in 6.35 hours.
On the other hand, the Mumbai-Shirdi high-speed train is expected to run via the Thal ghat (in Kasara on Mumbai's outskirts) and cover a distance of around 340 between them in 5.25 hours, they said. At present, all trains passing through these ghats are hauled up by additional locomotives (called bankers) from the Mumbai side.
According to the officials, they expect to receive the trains from Chennai-based Integrated Coach Factory within the next week and thereafter, the trials will be started immediately on both the ghat sections. In ghat sections, bankers are used for pushing trains besides avoiding incidents of train rollback in case of the parting of coaches. But the process of attaching and detaching bankers takes at least a few minutes, increasing travel time due to technical halts, an official explained.