Indian Railways to introduce new non-AC trains for the poor Vande Sadharan

The Indian Railways is planning to introduce non-AC Vande Sadharan trains for travellers who commute via sleeper and general class coaches.

. This move is to provide affordable and comfortable rail journeys to all passengers.

The train coaches are being manufactured at Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai, where coaches of the Vande Bharat trains have also been made.

These train coaches are being created at an estimated cost of INR 65 crore against the traditional Vande Bharat train which costs INR 100 crore (approx). These Vande Sadharan trains are expected to start running on the tracks by 2023 end.

According to Times of India, the new trains will be called Vande Sadharan or Vande Antyodaya, highlighting that the train is meant for the common people. The new train will have features similar to the Vande Bharat, with respect to bio-vacuum toilets, charging points at every seat, passenger information system, CCTV cameras and automatic doors, making it the first non-AC train to have these.

Vande Sadharan coaches will not be self-propelled. These trains will be loco-hauled with locomotives at both ends, unlike other trains that have just one locomotive. This will let Vande Sadharan Trains make use of the push-pull technology for faster acceleration. It will also help reduce the turnaround time at the last station as the locomotives will not need to be reversed.

These trains will have two second luggage coaches, two guard and divyaang-friendly coaches, eight second class unreserved coaches and 12 second class 3-tier sleeper coaches, bringing it to a total of 24 coaches.

All these will be non-AC. Tickets for Vande Sadharan trains will be comparatively more wallet-friendly to make them accessible to a larger group of people.