Lok Sabha Question No. 5337 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-25
Subject: Ergonomic Berths in Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Bhojraj Nag, Shri Chavda Vinod Lakhamshi, Shri Naba Charan Majhi, Shri Ramesh Awasthi, Shri Manish Jaiswal, Shri Shankar Lalwani, Shri Alok Sharma, Shri Pradeep Kumar Singh, Smt. Kamlesh Jangde, Shri Dilip Saikia, Shri Janardan Mishra, Shri Mahesh Kashyap, Shri Chandra Prakash Choudhary, Smt. Aparajita Sarangi, Shri Manoj Tiwari, Shri Dineshbhai Makwana, Shri Tejasvi Surya, Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5337 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026

## ERGONOMIC BERTHS IN TRAINS

## 5337. SMT. APARAJITA SARANGI:

SHRI BHOJRAJ NAG:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH CHOUDHARY:

SHRI TEJASVI SURYA:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR SINGH:

SHRI SHANKAR LALWANI:

SHRI DINESHBHAI MAKWANA:

SHRI RAMESH AWASTHI:

SMT. KAMLESH JANGDE:

SHRI NABA CHARAN MAJHI:

SHRI JANARDAN MISHRA:

SHRI MAHESH KASHYAP:

SHRI ALOK SHARMA:

SHRI CHAVDA VINOD LAKHAMSHI:

SHRI MANISH JAISWAL:

SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:

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

- (a)  whether  the  inclusion  of  'Ergonomic  Berths'  and  advanced  noise reduction  technology  improved  the  overnight  travel  experience  for passengers of trains and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of specific progress made towards the target of launching 30 new Sleeper rakes by December 2026;
- (c) whether the Government has successfully completed the trial runs for the 24-coach Vande Bharat Sleeper prototype at Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai;
- (d)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  Jharkhand  particularly  Hazaribagh and Ramgarh district, district-wise;
- (e)  whether  travel  time  has  been  successfully  reduced  on  the  HowrahGuwahati  corridor  compared  to  traditional/existing  superfast  express trains and if so, the details thereof;

§

- (f)  the  number  of  Vande  Bharat  trains  proposed  to  be  running  through Jharkhand;
- (g)  whether  the  Government  is  taking  steps  to  introduce  Vande  Bharat sleeper train service from Raipur to Raigarh via Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and if so, the details thereof;
- (h) the name of cities proposed to be connected with Vande Bharat sleeper train from Bhopal; and
- (i)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  operate  new  Vande  Bharat  train service  in  the  Kachchh  Lok  Sabha  Constituency  of  Gujarat,  if  so,  the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

## ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (i) Modernization and Improvement/up-gradation of Rolling Stock to  enhance  safety,  convenience  and  comfort  of  passengers  is  a continuous and ongoing process on Indian Railways (IR). This includes ergonomic design of seats and provision of noise reduction technologies like sound insulation paints, use of improved suspension etc.

For  long  distance  travel,  the  Sleeper  variant  of  Vande  Bharat Express has been indigenously designed and developed.

The  process  of  development  of  new  rolling  stocks  like  Vande Sleeper  necessitates  a  holistic  approach,  combining  technological innovation,  strategic  planning  and  manufacturing  to  ensure  a  safe, reliable and comfortable travel. This involves development of prototype, extensive testing and trials followed by series production.

These  train-sets  have  been  provided  with  modern  coaches having advanced safety features and passenger amenities like:

-  Jerk-Free Semi permanent couplers and Anti Climbers
- 
- 
- Fitted with KAVACH.
- Higher acceleration with design/operating speed of 180/160 KMPH.
-  Crashworthy Design of Car body complying with EN standards.

-  Fire  barrier  doors  at  the  end  of  each  coach  for  compliance  of  fire safety standards.
-  Aerosol  based  fire  detection  and  suppression  system  in  electrical cabinets and lavatories.
-  Regenerative braking system for energy efficiency.
-  Air  conditioning  units  provided  with  indigenously  developed  UV-C lamp-based disinfection system for deactivating 99% harmful bacteria  from  conditioned  air  to  improve  the  hygiene  standards inside the passenger area.
-  Centrally  controlled  Automatic  Plug  Doors  and  Fully  Sealed  wider gangways.
-  CCTVs in all coaches.
-  Emergency  talk-back  unit  for  communication  between  Passenger and Train Manager/Loco Pilot in case of emergency.
-  For  Divyangjan  passengers, special  lavatory  in the  driving  coaches on each end.
-  Centralized Coach Monitoring System for better condition monitoring of passenger amenities such as Air conditioning, Saloon Lighting etc.
-  Ergonomically  designed  ladder  for  ease  of  climbing  on  to  upper berths.

Presently,  the  following  01  pair  Vande  Bharat  train  services (Sleeper Car) are being operated on the Indian Railways network:

|   SN | Train No. and Name                                         |
|------|------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 27575/27576 Howrah - Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express |

The travel time of 27575/27576 Howrah-Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express is 14 hrs in each direction. This is more than 2hours lesser than the fastest train on the sector in both directions.

As  the  railway  network  straddles  across  State  boundaries, trains are operated as per network requirement, across such boundaries. However, Indian Railways, on originating/terminating basis, have introduced 14 Vande Bharat Chair Car services catering to the needs of the stations located in the State of Jharkhand. The list of these Vande Bharat train services is given below:-

|   SN | Train no. and name                                   |
|------|------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 20893/20894 Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express     |
|    2 | 20897/20898 Ranchi-Howrah Vande Bharat Express       |
|    3 | 22499/22500 Varanasi-Deoghar Vande Bharat Express    |
|    4 | 20891/20892 Tatanagar-Brahmapur Vande Bharat Express |
|    5 | 21895/21896 Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express     |
|    6 | 20887/20888 Ranchi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express     |
|    7 | 21893/21894 Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express     |

Presently, Raipur station is served by 04  Vande Bharat Chair Car services.  Similarly,  Bilaspur  is  served  by  02  Vande  Bharat  Chair  Car services  while    Bhopal/Rani  Kamlapati  is  served  by  06  Vande  Bharat Chair Car services These are  listed below:-

## Vande Bharat Chair Car serving Raipur

|   SN | Train No. & Number                                  |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 20825/20826 Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express    |
|    2 | 20829/20830 Durg-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express |

## Vande Bharat Chair Car serving Bilaspur

|   SN | Train No. & Number                               |
|------|--------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 20825/20826 Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express |

## Vande Bharat Chair Car serving Bhopal/Rani Kamlapati

|   SN | Train No. & Number                                              |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 20911/20912 Indore-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express                  |
|    2 | 20171/72 Rani Kamalapati-Hazrat Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express |

3

## 20173/20174 Rani Kamalapati-Rewa Vande Bharat Express

## Further, Raipur-Raigarh sector is presently served by 25 pairs of train services which are listed below:

| SN   | Train No. & Number                                      |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| 1    | 12069/70 Gondia -Raigarh Jan Shatabdi Express           |
| 2    | 12129/30 Pune -Howrah Express                           |
| 3    | 12151/52 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Shalimar Express            |
| 4    | 12409/10 Hazrat Nizamuddin -Raigarh Express             |
| 5    | 12809/10 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T)-Howrah Express |
| 6    | 12811/12 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Hatia Express               |
| 7    | 12833/34 Ahmedabad -Howrah Express                      |
| 8    | 12859/60 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T)-Howrah Express |
| 9    | 12879/80 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Bhubaneswar Express         |
| 10   | 12905/06 Porbandar-Shalimar Express                     |
| 12   | 13425/26 Surat-Malda Town Express                       |
| 13   | 17005/06 Hyderabad-Raxaul Express                       |
| 14   | 17007/08 Charlapalli-Darbhanga Express                  |
| 15   | 18029/30 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Shalimar Express            |
| 16   | 18109/10 NSCB Itwari-Tatanagar Express                  |
| 17   | 20813/14 Jodhpur -Puri Express                          |
| 18   | 20917/18 Indore -Puri Express                           |
| 19   | 22357/58 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Gaya Express                |
| 20   | 22511/12 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Kamakhya Express            |
| 21   | 22845/46 Pune -Hatia Express                            |
| 22   | 22865/66 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Puri Express                |
| 23   | Express                                                 |
|      | 22893/94 Sainagar Shirdi-Howrah                         |
| 24   | 22905/06 Okha-Shalimar Express                          |
| 25   | 68861/62 Gondia -Jharsuguda MEMU                        |

At present, Bhuj and Gandhidham stations of Kutch region are served by 24 and 50 train services respectively both including the services of 94801/94802 Ahmedabad-Bhuj Namo Bharat Rapid Rail as under: Trains services serving Bhuj:

|   SN | Train No. & Name                            |
|------|---------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 94801 Ahmedabad-Bhuj Namo Bharat Rapid Rail |
|    2 | 94802 Bhuj-Ahmedabad Namo Bharat Rapid Rail |
|    3 | 11091 Bhuj-Pune Express                     |
|    4 | 11092 Pune-Bhuj Express                     |
|    5 | 12959 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express                |
|    6 | 12960 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express                |
|    7 | 12965 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express                |
|    8 | 12966 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express                |
|    9 | 14311 Bareilly-Bhuj Ala Hazrat Express      |
|   10 | 14312 Bhuj-Bareilly Ala Hazrat Express      |
|   11 | 14321 Bareilly-Bhuj Express                 |
|   12 | 14322 Bhuj-Bareilly Express                 |
|   13 | 20907 Dadar-Bhuj Express                    |
|   14 | 20908 Bhuj-Dadar Express                    |
|   15 | 20927 Palanpur-Bhuj Express                 |
|   16 | 20928 Bhuj-Palanpur Express                 |
|   17 | 20983 Bhuj-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express      |
|   18 | 20984 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Bhuj Express      |
|   19 | 22829 Bhuj-Shalimar Express                 |
|   20 | 22830 Shalimar-Bhuj Express                 |
|   21 | 22903 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express                |
|   22 | 22904 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express                |
|   23 | 22955 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Kutch Express          |
|   24 | 22956 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Kutch Express          |

## Train services serving Gandhidham:

|   SN | Train No. & Name                                                |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 94801 Ahmedabad-Bhuj Namo Bharat Rapid Rail                     |
|    2 | 94802 Bhuj-Ahmedabad Namo Bharat Rapid Rail                     |
|    3 | 11091 Bhuj-Pune Express                                         |
|    4 | 11092 Pune-Bhuj Express                                         |
|    5 | 12473 Gandhidham-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Sarvodaya Express |
|    6 | 12474 Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-Gandhidham Sarvodaya Express |
|    7 | 12937 Gandhidham-Howrah Garba Express                           |
|    8 | 12938 Howrah-Gandhidham Garba Express                           |

|   9 | 12959 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express                  |
|-----|-----------------------------------------------|
|  10 | 12960 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express                  |
|  11 | 12965 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express                  |
|  12 | 12966 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express                  |
|  13 | 12993 Gandhidham-Puri Express                 |
|  14 | 12994 Puri-Gandhidham Express                 |
|  15 | 14311 Bareilly-Bhuj Ala Hazrat Express        |
|  16 | 14312 Bhuj-Bareilly Ala Hazrat Express        |
|  17 | 14321 Bareilly-Bhuj Express                   |
|  18 | 14322 Bhuj-Bareilly Express                   |
|  19 | 15667 Gandhidham-Kamakhya Express             |
|  20 | 15668 Kamakhya-Gandhidham Express             |
|  21 | 16335 Gandhidham-Nagercoil Express            |
|  22 | 16336 Nagercoil-Gandhidham Express            |
|  23 | 19405 Palanpur-Gandhidham Express             |
|  24 | 19406 Gandhidham-Palanpur Express             |
|  25 | 20685 Gandhidham-KSR Bengaluru Express        |
|  26 | 20686 KSR Bengaluru-Gandhidham Express        |
|  27 | 20803 Visakhapatnam-Gandhidham Express        |
|  28 | 20804 Gandhidham-Visakhapatnam Express        |
|  29 | 20907 Dadar-Bhuj Express                      |
|  30 | 20908 Bhuj-Dadar Express                      |
|  31 | 20923 Tirunelveli-Gandhidham Humsafar Express |
|  32 | 20924 Gandhidham-Tirunelveli Humsafar Express |
|  33 | 20927 Palanpur-Bhuj Express                   |
|  34 | 20928 Bhuj-Palanpur Express                   |
|  35 | 20935 Gandhidham-Indore Express               |
|  36 | 20936 Indore-Gandhidham Express               |
|  37 | 20983 Bhuj-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express        |
|  38 | 20984 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Bhuj Express        |
|  39 | 22483 Bhagat Ki Kothi-Gandhidham Express      |
|  40 | 22484 Gandhidham-Bhagat Ki Kothi Express      |
|  41 | 22829 Bhuj-Shalimar Express                   |
|  42 | 22830 Shalimar-Bhuj Express                   |
|  43 | 22903 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express                  |
|  44 | 22904 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express                  |
|  45 | 22951 Bandra(T)-Gandhidham Express            |

|   46 | 22952 Gandhidham-Bandra(T) Express   |
|------|--------------------------------------|
|   47 | 22955 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Kutch Express   |
|   48 | 22956 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Kutch Express   |
|   49 | 22973 Gandhidham-Puri Express        |
|   50 | 22974 Puri-Gandhidham Express        |

Besides,  introduction  of  train  services,  including  Vande  Bharat train  services  and  its  variants,  on  any  route/section,  is  an  on-going process,  which depends on various factors including:

- Capacity of that section.
- Availability of path.
- Availability of required rolling stock.
- Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock.
- Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets.

*****