ICF to roll out first Gati Shakti freight train by November end

CHENNAI: After making Vande Bharat, Vande Bharat sleeper, and Amrit Bharat trains, the Integral Coach Factory is now all set to roll out the freight version of Vande Bharat called Gati Shakti by November end.

The train, which is the freight version of the Vande Bharat (VB) passenger train, will be able to travel at 130 km per hour, a senior ICF official told DT Next.

"The train will have 16 cars on the VB platform and will be able to carry 397 tonnes. Out of the two orders given to the ICF, the second Gati Shakti train is also getting ready here," the official added. Sources said the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), the R&D wing of Indian Railways, will conduct a trial run between Khajuraho to Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh. After that, the rake will be taken to Kota in Rajasthan for the next trial.

The train will have facilities like 1.8-metre-wide double leaf automatic sliding doors (four per coach), provision of on-board kitchen in driving trailer coach (DTC), fire detection systems, CCTV, LED lights, door indication lamps, brake and propulsion that is same as of Vande Bharat, stainless steel interior panels, pneumatically retractable roller floor system with locking arrangements, and forced ventilation unit for DTC parcel area.

These facilities will ensure that the goods can be loaded more easily than the freight trains currently operational, said the official.

When the train was initially announced in 2022, the Railway Ministry had said that the first service would be introduced in the Delhi and Mumbai regions. The superfast freight train is manufactured with the aim of capturing high value and time-sensitive cargo movements, which are now transported using other modes of transport.