Negotiating steep gradients without banking engines in the monsoon could also be a challenging task. Railway officials, however, said they were fully prepared to face the challenges and claimed there would be minimal problems with the rakes and their maintenance
Presently, four Vande Bharat Express trains run from Maharashtra. These include three from Mumbai city: Mumbai-Gandhinagar, Mumbai-Solapur and Mumbai-Sainagar Shirdi. The fourth one is the Nagpur-Bilaspur train
On February 10, PM Modi flagged off these Vande Bharat Express trains, which had been the first in Railways' 150-year history to climb two different ghat sections that have the country's steepest gradient of 1:37, where there is a one-metre rise every 37 metres, without any banking locomotives
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A retired railway official said, “The Mumbai monsoon will be the litmus test for the city’s Vande Bharat trains, especially on CR, since the train has underslung motors and climbs steep inclines in the ghats without banking locomotives. We need to see if the two Vande Bharat trains from Mumbai will be able to face challenges since it is their very first monsoon in the city after the launch of the passenger service. The railways will need to take additional precautions about their maintenance, including roof leaks, water-proofing the motors and adhering and maintaining all safety norms”
Also Read: Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat Express speed likely to be restricted
The makers of the Vande Bharat train are also confident that the monsoon will pose no challenges. The Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat train flagged off on May 18 was hit by lightning and a hailstorm within a week of its launch, which cracked the windscreen of the driver’s cabin; and the services had to be cancelled for a day to repair the train
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