Lok Sabha Question No. 1789 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-30
Subject: New Vande Bharat Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Shivaji Bandappa Kalge, Shri Bhumare Sandipanrao Asaram, Thiru D M Kathir Anand, Shri Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke, Shri Gyaneshwar Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1789 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025

## NEW VANDE BHARAT TRAINS

## 1789  THIRU D M KATHIR ANAND:

SHRI BHUMARE SANDIPANRAO ASARAM: DR. SHIVAJI BANDAPPA KALGE: SHRI GYANESHWAR PATIL: SHRI NILESH DNYANDEV LANKE:

## Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the salient features of the Vande Bharat Trains;
- (b) the  details  of  the  number  of  routes  currently  operational across  the  country,  State-wise  including  Maharashtra  and Madhya Pradesh;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  plans  to  introduce  Vande Bharat  trains  in  more  train  routes  for  the  benefit  of  rail commuters and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  details  of  more  such  trains  proposed  to  be  operated  in the coming years;
- (e) the details of the overall utilisation of the said trains across the country;
- (f) whether  the  performance  of  said  trains  is  excellent  on  all routes and if so, the details thereof;
- (g) whether the Government has any plans to reduce the ticket fare  in  Vande  Bharat  trains  for  the  benefit  of  poor/lower middle  class  people  in  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (h) whether the Government proposes to provide affordable rail travel  to  the  poor/lower  middle  and  middle  class  people,  if so,  the  details  thereof  including  with  regard  to  Madhya Pradesh and the steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  to (h) With a view to provide better travel experience to the passengers, Indian Railways has introduced indigenously designed  and  manufactured  Vande  Bharat  trains  with  modern coaches,  advanced  safety  features  and  passenger  amenities. These new Vande Bharat Trains have following features:
- I. Fitted with KAVACH.
- II. Higher acceleration with design/operating speed of 180/160 KMPH.
- Air  conditioning  units  with  indigenously  developed  UV-C
- III. lamp based disinfection system.
- IV.
- Jerk Free Semi-Permanent couplers.
- V. Centrally controlled Automatic Plug Doors and Fully Sealed wider gangways.
- VI. Better Ride Comfort.
- VII. CCTVs in all Coaches.
- Emergency Alarm Push buttons and Talk Back Units on all
- VIII. Coaches.
- IX. Improved  fire  safety  -  Aerosol  based  fire  detection  and suppression system in electrical cabinets and lavatories.
- X. For  Divyangjan  passengers  special  lavatory  in  the  driving coaches on each end.
- XI. Driver-Guard communication with voice recording facility & Crash hardened memory.
- XII. Coach  condition  monitoring  System  (CCMS)  display  with remote monitoring.

Further,  Indian  Railways  has  planned  Vande  Bharat  Sleeper Trains  for  long  and  medium  journey.  Total  60  Rakes  have  been provisioned for manufacture at ICF Chennai. In addition, contracts for manufacturing of 200 Vande Bharat sleeper rakes have also been awarded to Technology Partners.

Broad technological advancements and safety features provided in Vande Bharat Sleeper Trains are as below:

- I. Fitted with KAVACH.
- II. Crashworthy  and  Jerk-Free  Semi  permanent  couplers  and
3. Anti Climbers.
- III. Crashworthy Design of Carbody complying with EN standards.
- IV. EN-45545 HL3 fire safety standards.
- V. Fire barrier doors at the end of each coach.
7. VI.
8. Regenerative braking system for energy efficiency.
9. Air conditioning units provided with indigenously developed
- VII. UV-C lamp based disinfection system.
- VIII. Emergency talk-back unit for communication between Passenger and Train Manager/Loco Pilot in case of emergency.
- IX. Ergonomically  designed  ladder  for  ease  of  climbing  on  to upper berths.

As the Railway network straddles across State boundaries, trains are introduced, as per network requirement, across such boundaries.  Presently,  144  Vande  Bharat  train  services  are operational on the Indian Railways (IR) network on originating/terminating  basis.  This  includes  22  Vande  Bharat train services catering to the needs of various stations located in the  State  of  Maharashtra  and  08  Vande  Bharat  train  services catering  to  the  needs  of  various  stations  of  Madhya  Pradesh. Besides,  introduction  of  new  train  services,  including  Vande Bharat train services, is an ongoing process on Indian Railways subject  to  traffic  justification,  operational  feasibility,  resource availability, etc.

The overall occupancy  of Vande  Bharat Express trains in Financial Year 2024-25 & 2025-26 (till June, 2025) is 102.01% & 105.03% respectively.

Indian  Railways  provide  affordable  transportation  service  to more  than  720  crore  passengers.  The  fares  of  Indian  Railways are among the lowest in the world, even when compared with the neighbouring countries.

Subsidy:  The  total  amount  of  subsidy  given  in  FY  2023-24  on passenger travel is provisionally estimated at Rs. 60,466 Crore. This amounts to 45 % subsidy on the cost of passenger travel.

To  provide  greater  accommodation  to  the  passengers  using General  class  Coaches,  Railways  have  significantly  increased the  facilities  for  passengers  demanding  general  class  travel. During  the  last  financial  year  2024-25  alone,  1250  general coaches have been utilised in various long-distance trains.

The percentage of non-AC coaches has significantly increased to about 70% as detailed below:

Table 1: Distribution of coaches:

| Non-AC coaches (general and   | ~57,200   | ~70%   |
|-------------------------------|-----------|--------|
| sleeper)                      |           |        |
| AC coaches                    | ~25,000   | ~30%   |
| Total coaches                 | ~82,200   | 100%   |

Due  to  higher  availability  of  general  coaches,  the  number  of passengers traveling in general/ unreserved coaches has shown an increasing trend as shown below:

Table 2: Passengers in general/unreserved coaches:

| Year    | No. of Passengers   |
|---------|---------------------|
| 2020-21 | 99 Cr (Covid year)  |

| 2021-22   | 275 Cr (Covid year)   |
|-----------|-----------------------|
| 2022-23   | 553 Cr                |
| 2023-24   | 609 Cr                |
| 2024-25   | 651 Cr                |

The  number  of  seats  available  for  non-AC  passengers  has  also increased over the years. The current composition is as follows:

Table 3: Distribution of seats:

| Non-AC seats   | ~ 54 lakhs   | ~ 78%   |
|----------------|--------------|---------|
| AC seats       | ~ 15 lakhs   | ~ 22%   |
| Total          | ~ 69 lakhs   | 100%    |

Given the above  data, it is clear that Indian Railways  is committed  to  the  low  and  middle  income  families  who  prefer railways as an affordable means of transportation.

Railways have developed a fully non-AC modern train named as Amrit  Bharat  express.    Already  14  services  are  in  operation. These modern trains have advanced features like SemiAutomatic couplers for jerk free travel, horizontal sliding windows,  foldable snack  tables and bottle holders, mobile holders etc.  These trains comprise 8 Sleeper Class coaches and 11 General Class coaches.

Development  of  Amrit  Bharat  Express  trains,  manufacturing  of MEMU  trains,  and  increasing  the  share  of  general  coaches clearly shows that Indian Railways is catering effectively to the demand for travel in general class.

Over and above the current high share of non-AC coaches (~70% of total coaches), Railways is executing a special manufacturing programme for 17,000 non-AC general/sleeper coaches over the next 5 years.

To  provide  greater  accommodation  for  the  passengers  using General and non-AC Sleeper Coaches, the extant policy regarding composition  of  Mail/Express  trains  provides  for  12  (Twelve) General  class  & Sleeper  class  non-  AC  coaches  and  08  (eight) AC-Coaches, in a train of 22 coaches, thereby providing greater accommodation  for  the  passengers   using  General  and  non-AC Sleeper Coaches.

Further, to cater to the needs of passengers desirous of availing unreserved accommodation, Indian Railways (IR) operate unreserved  non-AC  passenger  trains/  MEMU  /  EMU  etc.  for affordable travel,  which are in addition to the unreserved accommodation (coaches) available in Mail/Express services.

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