The fastest train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, namely the Vande Bharat Express, is set to become even faster as the Western Railways has received approval to conduct trial runs of the Vande Bharat at 160 km/h. Currently, the maximum speed of this semi-high-speed train is 130 km/h, and if the trial is successful, the travel time between the two cities will be reduced by 45 minutes.
The Commission of Railway Safety, under the Ministry of Civil Aviation of the Government of India, has authorized the conduct of a confirmatory oscillograph car run (COCR) for the 16-coach train set of the Vande Bharat train in both the up and down directions on the Mumbai Central-Vadodara-Ahmedabad route of WR.
As per the approval letter from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (Western Circle), the trial must be conducted in daytime and fair weather conditions. RPF will be deployed at all level crossings, and any locations with broken or missing barricading will be identified during the trial runs. Prior to the trial runs, locomotive pilots will undergo training and medical fitness checks, and a pair of pilots will be assigned for the trials.
The sanction letter specifies that no train crossings will be permitted at en-route stations during the COCR trial runs at the speed of 160 km/h.