After making its debut in the segment of the semi-high-speed train in the nation, is Vande Bharat Metro now going to replace the local trains of Mumbai, which is called the lifeline of Mumbai.Last week, the senior official of the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) announced that the Railway Board has approved the procurement of 238 Vande Bharat Metro trains specifically for Mumbai.According to sources, this huge infrastructural improvement would cause Mumbais local trains to be replaced. The Vande Bharat Metro, which would connect cities that are about 100 kilometres apart, will be a cutting-edge train system intended for covering short distances.More about Vande Bharat metroAccording to the information shared by the authorities, 238 rakes of Vande Bharat metro will be procured under the aspiring Mumbai Urban Transport Project-III (MUTP-III) and (MUTP-3A), which are being taken over by the Ministry of Railway and Government of Maharashtra to augment the capacity of the metropolis suburban train network.As per sources, the authorities have already approved two depots for the maintenance of the rakes under MUTP-III and 3A will be set up by the technology partner. Reportedly, they will be located at Vangaon and Bhivpuri.According to estimates, the MUTP-III and MUTP-3A projects have a respective value of Rs 10,947 crore and Rs 33,690 crore. According to an MRVC representative, the procurement will be carried out, and the maintenance requirements will last for 35 years.It is also likely that the new version of Vande Bharat will be equipped with more facilities, as compared to the ones that arrived in December, last year.Both the federal government and the state governments contributed money to these MUTP initiatives. The guidelines, which are cited, state that the government-run railway factories wont make the trains. Contracts will be made with technology partners instead. They will need to follow the Make-in-India rules.However, no clarity on the fares has been made by the department so far.
