Indian Railways (IR) plans to manufacture 260 rakes of Vande Bharat sleeper train sets. This information was provided by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The manufacturing programme is being executed in a phased manner through prototype development, trials and series production by BEML, Integral Coach Factory, Chennai and technology partners.
Induction of these trainsets into regular passenger service will be undertaken in a phased manner based on demand and operational readiness, Vaishnaw said.
Vande Bharat sleeper train sets have been provided with modern coaches having advanced safety features and passenger amenities such as:
• Jerk-Free Semi permanent couplers and Anti Climbers
• Fitted with KAVACH.
• Higher acceleration with design/operating speed of 180/160 KMPH.
• Crashworthy Design of Car body complying with EN standards.
• Fire barrier doors at the end of each coach for compliance of fire safety standards.
• Improved fire safety – Aerosol based fire detection and suppression system in electrical cabinets and lavatories.
• Regenerative braking system for energy efficiency.
• Air conditioning units provided with indigenously developed UV-C lamp-based disinfection system for deactivating 99 % harmful bacteria from conditioned air to improve the hygiene standards inside the passenger area.
• Centrally controlled Automatic Plug Doors and Fully Sealed wider gangways.
• CCTVs in all coaches.
• Emergency talk-back unit for communication between Passenger and Train Manager/Loco Pilot in case of emergency.
• For Divyangjan passengers, special lavatory in the driving coaches on each end.
• Centralized Coach Monitoring System for better condition monitoring of passenger amenities such as Air conditioning, Saloon Lighting etc.
• Ergonomically designed ladder for ease of climbing on to upper berths.
