There is palpable excitement among the travelling public and mobility experts as south India gets its first indigenous, semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express, to run between Chennai (the birthplace of the train) and Mysuru via Bengaluru.

The train will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 11.

The first Vande Bharat Express train was flagged off on February 15, 2019, on the New Delhi-Varanasi route. After nearly four years, we have only four such trains, all in the north and west of the country.

Although the public seems to be happy, there are some genuine concerns. The train is expected to cut down travel time considerably due to its faster acceleration and deceleration, but it has been time-tabled to save a mere 10 minutes between Chennai and Bengaluru — taking 4 hours 35 minutes to cover the 359 km at an average speed of 78 kmph. The train is almost like a clone of Shatabdi, starting 10 minutes before it from Chennai and reaching 20 minutes ahead of it at Bengaluru.

It is learnt that the track is being upgraded to a maximum permissible speed of 130 kmph, and once completed the average speed would go up. However, operating and technical experts opine that it should be possible to reduce the travel time close to four hours. Only if the travel time is brought to this level, can air travellers be weaned away to trains.

Indian Railways must address not only the issue of travel time but also the timing itself as the two trains between Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru at practically the same time would certainly hurt one of the two in respect of patronage by travellers. Even if consultations with stakeholders like frequent travellers or railway consumer forums were held before scheduling the train, it is possible that the impact on the existing Shatabdi was overlooked.

The southern Vande Bharat has also brought to focus the future roadmap of the train. Are our tracks ready for reasonable exploitation of the potential of the train or will Vande Bharat trains continue to run as showpieces without delivering their full promise? A comparative status in respect of five Vande Bharat trains is as under:

As more Vande Bharat trains are introduced, the euphoria related with the ‘speed’ of the train might start evaporating and what may still attract travellers is its pleasing external aesthetics and interiors. It is debatable if these qualities alone would continue to justify the higher fare.

What would be a wiser thing to do for introduction of these trains till the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah sections get fenced and upgraded to 160 kmph, and a considerable number of other sections are cleared for 130 kmph?

There is no point in inducting these trains in a hurry. If Integral Coach Factory (ICF) delivers two to three a month, that would be a good achievement and would also be adequate for cautious introduction all over the country. Gradual serialisation is also better for ensuring that the quality of the train does not suffer; comparisons have already been made by travellers on social media that the quality of the interiors and seating has deteriorated.

While there is nothing wrong with the design of the train which was meant to traverse fenced tracks, the threat of cattle on tracks is real. The data on cattle menace facing the Railways are easily available, and these trains should be first introduced only on those sections connecting large cities which have the least incidence of cattle ingress.

A more focussed induction will help railway zones to prepare themselves well for maintenance of the train. Vande Bharat has caught the imagination of the country and the Railways must now ensure that the ‘feel good’ is nurtured, not lost.

The writer, a former General Manager of Indian Railways, is an independent rail consultant

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