Medilytix Bureau : On the next Independence Day, India will roll out its first indigenously designed and manufactured hydrogen-powered train, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.
“India has been able to build trains that are among the best in the world and the next big thing will be when the hydrogen-powered train is rolled out on August 15, 2023,” the minister for railways said. Hydrogen is an environment-friendly fuel, and Germany rolled out the world’s first hydrogen-powered train last month.
The minister, who was speaking during a programme, said that the Vande Bharat Express train, which is being built at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, was recently found to be among the best five trains in the world.
The minister said that the train took only 52 seconds to move from zero speed to 100 km per hour, while the famed Bullet train of Japan took 55 seconds for the same.
The minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked the engineers to build world-class trains that are safe, stable and consume less energy while running at a good speed.
He said the punctuality of trains in India was around 89 per cent at present, which needed to reach 100 per cent.