Overview
- South Western Railway’s Mysuru Division began field trials of a 20-coach Vande Bharat rake on the Sakleshpur–Subrahmanya ghat on Wednesday using a train sent from ICF Chennai.
- RDSO engineers are on board to measure braking, acceleration, stability and the automatic emergency braking system while the train makes repeated runs at gradually higher speeds.
- Coaches have been loaded with sandbags to simulate passenger weight so testers can establish safe operating speeds and braking distances on the ghat’s steep gradients and tight curves.
- Railway officials say trials will continue for several days and that successful technical results and RDSO clearance would be required before any regular Bengaluru–Mangaluru Vande Bharat service is approved.
- The ghat section crosses the Western Ghats with tunnels, bridges and sharp bends so the outcome could affect travel times for coastal communities and trigger further infrastructure or timetable changes if service is cleared.