Representative image of a Vande Bharat train.
Credit: PTI Photo
The newer Vande Bharat rakes, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate nine new trains on Sunday (September 24th), will have 25 additional features.
The new trains will have increased seat reclination, and improved cushions. The seats in executive chair cars (ECC) will now be blue, instead of red. The mobile charging points under the seats will have better accessibility, an official note of Eastern Railway, stated.
An extended foot-rest for seats, magazine bags for ECC-class end seats, wash basins with greater depth, and improved lighting in toilets, are other features.
Further, toilet handles will have greater bend for improved grip, water tap aerator for improved flow control, standardised colours for toilet panels, securing point for wheelchairs in driving trailer coaches with provision for Divyangjan seats, better upper trim panels and hammer box covers, and borderless emergency talk-back units for interaction with drivers during emergency, are among the add-ons.
The coaches are to have hinged transparent-door assembly for fire extinguishers, modified panelling, stronger air-tightness with insulation over panels for improved air-conditioning, stronger roller blind fabric with lesser transparency, and hatch-doors for electrical maintenance doors.
Besides, there will be smooth touch controls for luggage rack lights, uniform-coloured driver desks in trailer coaches, interchange of emergency stop push-button in driver control panel, aerosol-based fire detection and suppression system in coaches, in the new trains.
Of the nine trains to be inaugurated by PM Modi on Sunday, one is the Patna-Howrah Vande Bharat Express. In West Bengal, three Vande Bharat Express trains are already operational between Howrah and New Jalpaiguri, New Jalpaiguri and Guwahati, and between Howrah and Puri.