Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said 12 major improvements have been made in the Amrut Bharat Version 2.0 trains and 50 such trains will be manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in the coming two years. Vaishnaw, who inspected the ICF and interacted with its General Manager U. Subba Rao, said the state government should rise above politics and give priority to serving the public. The Centre and his ministry are committed to taking all possible steps for the welfare of the public.
“I am very happy to see that Amrut Bharat Version 2.0 trains are being manufactured here. As you know, Amrut Bharat Version 1.0 was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024 and based on the experience of the last one year, many improvements have been made in Version 2.0,” Vaishnaw told reporters at the ICF.
Further on the improvements made in the Amrut Bharat trains, he said, “12 major improvements have been made in the entire train. These include semi-automatic couplings, modular toilets, pillars and partitions of chairs, emergency talk back feature, emergency brake system, continuous lighting like Vande Bharat trains, new designed seats and berths.” He also said that the pantry car of Amrut Bharat version 2.0 trains has been made with a new design.
“These trains target low income and lower-middle income group families. 50 such trains will be made (at Integral Coach Factory) in the coming two years. It will provide a very economical and high quality travel experience to people travelling long distances,” he said.
Speaking to the correspondent, Vaishnaw said Amrut Bharat trains have been designed with the aim to provide a comfortable travel experience even for the “poorest of the poor”. “Amrut Bharat has been designed based on the experiences of Vande Bharat Sleeper and Amrut Bharat version 1.0 (which was launched in 2024). The general coach includes features like comfortable seats, charging points, holders for mobile phones and water bottles,” he said.
Responding to another question, he said the state government should cooperate with the ministry in land allocation. “We need the support of the state government in land acquisition. We should ensure that people’s amenities are above politics and we should think about people’s welfare first. I have requested Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for support,” he said.
“The people of Tamil Nadu want better amenities and the Government of India and the Prime Minister are committed to providing those amenities. If we work together (Centre and state government together), we can provide better amenities to the people,” he said.
Responding to issues raised by the Railway Safety Commissioner over the construction of the historic Pamban Bridge at Rameswaram, he said the bridge was designed based on Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO). “When you work on RDSO standard, such standard designs are used for bridges that are constructed on a large scale. But the Pamban bridge is a unique bridge. It is a bridge that is designed and constructed once in a lifetime,” he said.
He clarified that it was explained to the Railway Safety Commissioner that it is not a standard bridge and has been designed in a unique way. He informed that the best international experts have been hired to design the bridge. “The CRS understood this and now they have approved the design of the bridge. The panel report has also come,” he said.
The minister said the railways has installed Kavach (train accident prevention facility) system in 10,000 engines and 15,000 km of track side fittings are also being done. “Telecom towers are also being installed. Cameras are being installed in front of the engines. For safety, new point machines have been designed. In one incident, people had removed the bolts of the point machine near Chennai. Now new design bolts have been prepared and are being fitted in such a way that nobody can remove them,” he said.
Speaking on rail connectivity between Jammu and Srinagar, he said it is a ‘dream come true’ project and the Commissioner of Railway Safety has conducted speed trials. “It is a very complex project. Out of 110 km, about 97 km is inside tunnels and 6 km on bridges. It is a very complex project,” he said.
According to him, the ministry has used almost 76% of the capital expenditures allotted to the railways as of the end of December 2024, and he considered the 2024 capital expenditures as historic