Bullet train to have business coach, fast food vendors

SHIMLA: A business class coach, separate toilets and washroom facilities for men and women, fast food vendors on-board and rotating seats are among some of the new features that will be introduced in the country’s first bullet train that will run between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, officials familiar with the matter said.

The 35 bullet trains with 10 coaches, which will initially run on this route, will have one business class and nine standard coaches, they added.

Senior officials of the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHRCL), the nodal agency implementing the high speed rail project, said the bullet trains will not just have operational advanced technologies as compared to the existing Indian trains, but also a variety of passenger amenities.

The train, which is planned to be operated in peak and nonpeak hours, will have 70 services between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. It will ferry 40,000 passengers by 2023.

NHRCL will be studying the passenger demand to decide introduction of monthly passes for passengers. The organisation also plans on changing station halts in the high-speed train as per the passenger demand.

The business class coach in the train will have leg rests, luggage space and staff rooms with refrigerator, freezer, boiling water, tea and coffee-maker and hand towel warmers in the car.

In order to maintain passengers’ safety, a special general inspection train will be operated every 10 days to inspect the tracks, officials said.