With the announcement and development of some new Vande Bharat express trains in the past months, Bihar has now surpassed Maharashtra to join Uttar Pradesh as the state with the most operational Vande Bharat train pairs in a major reorganisation of India’s semi-high speed rail system.
Developed by Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Vande Bharat trains were first introduced in 2019 and have subsequently spread across the country. As per the most recent railway estimates, currently over 150 Vande Bharat train services remain operational across the country.
Both Bihar and UP now have 14 pairs of Vande Bharat train services each in operation. Maharashtra, the state that once held the highest number of operational Vande Bharat trains, now lags behind UP and Bihar.
A detailed breakdown of all Vande Bharat trains that run in these three states has been listed as follows
Vande Bharat trains in Bihar
22349/50 Patna-Ranchi Vande Bharat Express
22347/48 Patna-Howrah Vande Bharat Express
22233/34 New Jalpaiguri-Patna Vande Bharat Express
22345/46 Patna-Gomtinagar Vande Bharat Express
20887/20888 Ranchi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
22599/22500 Deogarh-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
22301/22302 Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express
22303/04 Howrah-Gaya Vande Bharat Express
22309/10 Howrah-Bhagalpur Vande Bharat Express
20983/84 Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express
21893/94 Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express
21895/96 Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express
26501/02 Patliputra-Gorakhpur Vande Bharat Express
26301/26302 Jogbani-Danapur Vande Bharat Express
Total Vande Bharat train in Uttar Pradesh
Train number 22435/22436 Varanasi-New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
Train number 20171/20172 Rani Kamlapati-Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express
Train number 22457/22458 Anand Vihar Terminal-Dehradun-Anand Vihar Terminal Vande Bharat Express
Train number 22549/22550 Gorakhpur-Prayagraj-Gorakhpur Vande Bharat Express
Train number 22415/22416 Varanasi-New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
Train number 22425/22426 Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal-Ayodhya Vande Bharat Express
Train number 22345/22346 Patna-Gomti Nagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express
Train number 20887/20888 Ranchi-Banaras-Ranchi Vande Bharat Express
Train number 22545/22546 Lucknow-Dehradoon-Lucknow Vande Bharat Express
Train number 22490/22489 Meerut City-Lucknow-Meerut City Vande Bharat Express
Train number 20981/20982 Udaipur-Agra Cantt-Udaipur Vande Bharat Express
Train number 22500/22499 Varanasi-Deoghar-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
Train number 20176/20175 Agra Cantt-Banaras-Agra Cantt Vande Bharat Express
Train number 26502/26501 Gorakhpur-Patliputra-Gorakhpur Vande Bharat Express
Vande Bharat trains in Maharashtra
20901/20902 Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar Capital Vande Bharat Express
20825/20826 Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express
22223/22224 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T)-Sainagar Shirdi Vande Bharat Express
22225/22226 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T)-Solapur Vande Bharat Express
20911/20912 Indore-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express
22229/22230 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T)-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express
20705/20706 Jalna-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express
22961/22962 Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express
20673/20674 SCSM(T) Kolhapur-Pune Vande Bharat Express
20101/20102 Nagpur-Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express
20669/20670 Hubballi-Pune Vande Bharat Express
26101/26102 Ajni-Pune-Ajni Vande Bharat Express
Latest Addition
Most recently, the government also announced two Vande Bharat Express trains in Rajasthan that link Jodhpur and Bikaner with the national capital. The new services are expected to reduce travel time by over an hour on the respective routes. According to a tentative timetable, the train will depart from Jodhpur at 5.30 am and reach Delhi Cantt at 1.30 pm. On its return, it is expected to start at 15.10 hours and is likely to reach Jodhpur at 23.15 hours the same day.
Vande Bharat: Top Speed
The trains have a design speed of 180 kmph, although the maximum operational speed is currently 160 kmph due to track limitations. The latest variant is a sleeper train, with the first prototype rolling out in September 2024 and trials hitting 180 kmph in January 2025. This version will eventually replace Rajdhani trains on long-distance routes. The full speed potential of Vande Bharat trains is restricted by the existing railway network, which requires substantial upgrades to accommodate consistently higher speeds.