Railway’s big gift before Diwali: The first Vande Bharat sleeper will run on the Delhi-Varanasi route, the journey will take less time than the capital; View Stoppages and Facilities

Indian Railways has made full preparations to launch the much awaited Vande Bharat Sleeper Express on the tracks for the lakhs of railway passengers of Purvanchal and Bihar returning home just before Diwali and Chhath festival. Chairman After the tremendous success of Vande Bharat, now with the aim of making long distance and night travel comfortable, the first commercial Vande Bharat Sleeper train is being started between the national capital New Delhi to the Prime Minister’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi (Kashi). According to senior Railway Ministry officials, all the technical and safety tests of this 16 coach semi-high-speed sleeper rake have been successfully completed by the Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO). It will be formally flagged off during the festival week to avoid the long waiting list and rush for tickets in regular trains during festivals.

Currently, conventional Rajdhani or superfast trains running between New Delhi and Varanasi take about 10 to 12 hours to cover the distance, while chaircar Vande Bharat takes about 8 hours during the day. This sleeper Vande Bharat, designed for night travel, will operate at a speed limit of 130 to 160 kilometers per hour, so that passengers leaving Delhi at night will be able to reach Varanasi, the city of Baba Vishwanath, directly in the early morning.

• Possible schedule: This train will leave from New Delhi at around 11:00 pm and will reach Varanasi Cantt at around 7:00 am the next morning. In return, it will depart from Varanasi at 10:30 pm and end its journey at New Delhi station at 6:30 am.

• Major Stoppages: For the convenience of passengers on the route, commercial halts of 2 to 5 minutes have been proposed at Kanpur Central and Prayagraj Junction.

Jointly designed by BEML and Integral Coach Factory (ICF), this sleeper train comprises of 16 coaches with a total carrying capacity of 823 berths:

• Coach Structure: This will include 11 AC three-tier (3-Tier) coaches, 4 AC two-tier (2-Tier) coaches and 1 state-of-the-art First AC (First Class AC) coach.

• Ergonomic berth design: Compared to normal trains, its berths are designed with extra cushioning, memory foam and wide leg-space so that there is no back pain or fatigue during night travel.

• Special stairs for climbing upper berth: For the convenience of the elderly and women, wide, slip-safe ergonomic stairs have been provided to climb to the upper berths.

• Disabled-friendly toilets: The train has been fitted with bio-vacuum modular toilets as well as special wide washrooms for disabled passengers and automatic touch-free sensors.

• Personal reading light and charging sockets: Mobile, laptop charging point, USB port, foldable snack table and soft reading light have been provided at every berth.

Vande Bharat Sleeper Train has been developed at world-class standards in terms of safety and passenger comfort:

1. Indigenous ‘Kavach’ security system (Kavach 4.0): India’s indigenous Automatic Train Protection technology is inbuilt in the train. If the signal from the loco pilot is ignored or another train comes on the same track, the system will automatically apply brakes to prevent collision.

2. Jerk-Free Semi-Permanent Couplers: All the coaches of the train are connected to each other with advanced couplers, due to which the passengers will not feel any kind of jerk when the train stops or picks up speed and there will be no disturbance in sleep at night.

3. Strict fireproof standard (EN 45545 HL3): High-grade fire resistant materials have been used in the interior construction and each coach is fitted with aerosol-based automatic fire extinguishing equipment and smoke detectors.

4. Silent Cabin Insulation: Sound insulation layer has been installed inside the coaches to block external noise and track noise, which will maintain a quiet environment inside the cabin.

The final fare table will be announced by the Railway Board just before the inauguration of the train, but according to senior sources its fare may be based on a premium of 10 to 15 per cent over the dynamic fares of the existing Tejas and Rajdhani Express. The estimated one-way fare for Third AC is likely to be around ₹1,800 to ₹2,100, for Second AC around ₹2,800 to ₹3,200 and for First AC it is likely to be around ₹3,600 to ₹4,000 including catering charges. Advance booking window of tickets will be opened on IRCTC online portal and railway reservation counters 24 to 48 hours before the formal launch of the train. This new sleeper service will not only make the journey of passengers smooth and punctual during the festive season, but will also prove to be a new milestone in the history of modernization of Indian Railways.