These high-speed and comfortable trains, which are safer and offer modern amenities, have become the benchmark for train travel, replacing the staid, ageing Rajdhanis and Shatabdis.
Currently, 50 Vande Bharat services are available across 23 states and Union territories using 25 trains. In the first quarter, the utilisation rate of these trains was 99.6%, underscoring their popularity.
Six more Vande Bharat trains are expected to start running soon. Currently, they have an average travel time of about six hours and 40 minutes, and are being used for daytime trips between key cities.
Demand for Vande Bharat trains is coming from across party lines and even from cabinet ministers in the Narendra Modi government. Those making requests include Union ministers Pralhad Joshi, RK Singh, Anupriya Singh Patel, Rao Inderjit Singh and Jyotiraditya M Scindia. Congress president and Rajya Sabha member Mallikarjun Kharge has asked for a new Vande Bharat train service between Bengaluru and Mumbai.
According to rail ministry officials, the demand for these trains is rising as word about the speedier and more comfortable train experience spreads.
Stops on Existing Routes
For instance, the New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat covers 800 kilometres in eight hours and an AC chair car ticket costs about Rs 1,800, less than half the cost of taking a flight. The trains can run at a peak speed of 160 km per hour, depending on track conditions.
Requests to the ministry include new train services as well as introducing stops on existing Vande Bharat routes.
Decisions on new Vande Bharat routes are taken by a committee of the Indian Railways that assesses the viability as well as competing services on a proposed route.
