A glimpse of the Integral Coach Factory during the inspection of Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw (unseen) of the manufacturing of Vande Bharat trains at the facility, in Chennai. (ANI Photo) (Ashwini Vaishnaw twitter)

Nine Vande Bharat Express trains launched with improved features including advanced safety measures and increased seat reclination angle.

Vande Bharat Express: From seat colours to aerosol based fire detection: Check out THESE 10 upgraded features

The nine Vande Bharat Express trains were flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 September. These newly launched trains have a host of new features incorporated which were incorporate after taking passengers’ feedback in order to make the train journey more comfortable for them. The launch of these nine trains will connect religious and tourist destinations across 11 states in the country.

Yesterday, the railways also rolled out its first orange coloured Vande Bharat Express from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram, a high demand route which now operates two such trains, a senior Indian Railways official said as reported by PTI. Moreover, over the next two months, nine more orange coloured Vande Bharat Express trains are expected to be rolled out.

As per the PMO statement, the introduction of these nine Vande Bharat trains herald a new standard of rail service in the country and is equipped with world-class amenities and advanced safety features, including Kavach technology. In the new train, coach manufacturers have paid attention to minute details.

Here’s the list of new features incorporated in the recently launched 9 Vande Bharat trains:

1. The new trains herald a new standard of rail service and is equipped with world-class amenities and advanced safety features, including Kavach technology, PMO statement said

2. The seat reclining angle in the newly launched trains has been raised from 17.31 degrees to 19.37 degrees.

3. The hardness of cushion optimised and the colour of seat in executive class coach has been changed from red to pleasant blue.

4. Moreover, the new changes incorporated also include improved accessibility of mobile charging point under the seats, extended footrest for seats and magazine bags for executive class coach-end seats as well.

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5. In the improved features, wash basin depth to avoid splashing of water in lavatories has been included. 

6. Apart from this, the lighting in toilets improved from 1.5 watts to 2.5 watts, toilet handle given additional bend for improved grip and water tap aerator to better water flow control.

7. The new feature also include provision for securing points for wheel chairs of Divyangjan passengers in driving trailer coaches.

8. The new trainsets also have improved air tightness for better air-conditioning with insulation over panels, better roller blind fabric with more tear strength with less transparency and smooth touch controls for luggage rack lights by changing from resistive touch to capacitive touch, as reported by PTI.

9. Other feature also include the improved aerosol based fire detection and suppression system inside the coaches.

10. As per Zee News report, the new trains will also have the driver desk with Uniform coloured theme in the Driving Trailer Coaches and also changes in the emergency stop push button in the driver control panel to make it easier for the loco pilot to operate.