The government has increased the number of Vande Bharat trains to 82 and is working to boost their speed to 160 kmph on two major routes. This was revealed by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Vande Bharat trains are semi-high-speed trains that are indigenously designed and manufactured by Indian Railways. They operate on five routes across the country, connecting states with Broad Gauge (BG) electrified network.
The minister said that the introduction of new train services, including Vande Bharat, and the provision of stoppage of train services are subject to various factors such as traffic demand, operational feasibility, and resource availability.
Occupancy of trains upto 96.62 per cent
The minister also said that the railway does not maintain the data on the train-wise and state-wise revenue generated by the Vande Bharat trains. He said that the occupancy of the Vande Bharat trains was 96.62 per cent in the financial year 2022-23.
Increasing speed of Vande bharat trains
The minister further said that the railway is taking steps to increase the speed of the Vande Bharat trains on the New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah routes, which are part of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and diagonal routes.
He said that the sectional speed over 10,981 route kilometres covering these routes and other ‘B’ routes has been raised to 130 kmph. He said that the works for raising the sectional speed to 160 kmph on the existing New Delhi-Mumbai (including Vadodara-Ahmedabad) and New Delhi-Howrah (including Kanpur-Lucknow) routes are in progress.
Vande bharat upgradation with latest ammenities
The minister also said that the Vande Bharat trains have been upgraded with improved safety features, faster acceleration, better ride index and passenger amenities.
He said that the trains have automatic plug doors, reclining ergonomic seats, comfortable seating with revolving seats in executive class, mobile charging sockets for every seat etc. He also said that the trains are fitted with KAVACH system, which is a comprehensive security system for the trains.