Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Gandhinagar-Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express train at Gandhinagar on Friday. The Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express is the third one for the country. Developed under the “Make in India'' campaign, the Vande Bharat Express will connect every section of the nation, as the government plans to have a total of 75 such trains, confirmed PM Modi during his Independence Day speech last year. The Vande Bharat Express is a high-speed train with a top speed of up to 160 kmph, and it can attain a speed of 100 kmph from a standstill in just 52 seconds.
Besides, all coaches are equipped with automatic doors, a GPS-based audio-visual passenger information system, onboard hotspot Wi-Fi for entertainment purposes, and very comfortable seating. The executive class also has rotating chairs. Vande Bharat 2.0 will be equipped with more advancements and improved features such as reaching the speed of 0 to 100 kilometres per hour in just 52 seconds, and a maximum speed up to 180 kilometres per hour. The improved Vande Bharat Express will weigh 392 tons when compared to the previous version of 430 tons. It will also have a Wi-Fi content on-demand facility. Every coach is equipped with 32” screens providing passenger information and infotainment compared to 24” in the previous version. Vande Bharat Express is also going to be environment friendly as the ACs will be 15 per cent more energy efficient. With dust-free clean air cooling of the traction motor, the travel will become more comfortable. Side recliner seat facility which was provided only to Executive Class passengers earlier will now be made available for all classes. Executive Coaches have the added feature of 180-degree rotating seats.