NEW DELHI: Paving the way for final production of the country’s first indigenous Bullet Train, B28, the “Squeeze Test” or vehicle body shell test of the first coach is underway and will be completed next week. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw witnessed the test at BEML’s Bengaluru facility on Sunday.A squeeze test is a safety assessment to determine whether a train’s car body can withstand heavy external forces and pressure without excessive deformation or structural failure in case of a collision or crash. “Squeeze test of the integrated car body is at final stage. After this, propulsion system will be placed and all electronic systems will be put in place. Subsequently, a climatic test will be carried out wherein the car will be subjected to tests at high temperature of 50 degree Celsius and negative temperature, and dusty and heavy rain environment conditions,” Vaishnaw said.Railways plans to start the test run of the high-speed train, designed to operate at a maximum speed of 249 kmph and a testing speed of 275 kmph, from first quarter of 2027-2028 on Surat-Vapi (100 km) section of Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed corridor. The commercial run is scheduled for August 2027. Each bullet train will have eight coaches and another eight can be added later. The eight-car train can carry 557 passengers.BEML, a central PSU, is manufacturing the first two of the indigenous bullet trains, each comprising eight coaches.
“After the successful completion of this test, the prototype should ideally be ready in less than six months. Since the B28 (Bharat 28) train is not being built on Japanese Shinkansen technology, the development process should not take much time. The squeeze test establishes whether the body retains its shape under pressure and whether the passenger compartment maintains its structural integrity,” an official said.While seeking Cabinet approval for the escalated cost of the country’s first bullet train project, the railway ministry had stated that two prototype trains were expected to be ready for trial runs in the first quarter of 2027. It had also said that the entire Gujarat section of the corridor was expected to be completed by December 2027, while the full 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail corridor is targeted for completion by December 2030.