Lok Sabha Question No. 164 (STARRED), answered on 2026-02-11
Subject: Vande Bharat Trains in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke, Shri Gyaneshwar Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 164

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2026

## VANDE BHARAT TRAINS IN MAHARASHTRA AND MADHYA PRADESH

- †*164. SHRI NILESH DNYANDEV LANKE: SHRI GYANESHWAR PATIL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the total number of Vande Bharat Express trains currently operational in Maharashtra  and  Madhya  Pradesh  along  with  details  regarding  their specific routes and frequency;
- (b)  whether  any  proposal  is  under  consideration  to  introduce  new  Vande Bharat  routes  connecting  major  cities,  pilgrimage  sites  or  tourist destinations within or outside Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether any proposal is under consideration to launch semi-high-speed corridors or upgrade existing tracks for faster Vande Bharat services in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to operate Vande Bharat trains in the rural areas of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and if so, the details
- thereof; and
- (e) the details of various steps being taken to ensure affordable fares and the inclusion of local cuisine options in these trains?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

## STATEMENT REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  STARRED QUESTION NO.164 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2026 IN LOK SABHA

(a)  to  (e)  As  the  railway  network  straddles across State boundaries, trains are  introduced  across  such  boundaries  as  per  network  requirement.  On originating/terminating basis, 24 Vande Bharat Express services are catering to the needs of various stations located in the State of Maharashtra while 10 Vande  Bharat  Express  services  (including  26505/26506  Khajuraho-Banaras Vande  Bharat  Express  introduced  w.e.f.  11.11.2025),   are  catering  to  the needs of various stations located in the State of  Madhya Pradesh. These are listed below:

## Vande Bharat serving Maharashtra:

|   SN | Train no. and name                                                               | Frequency     |
|------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|
|    1 | 26101/26102 Pune-Ajni Vande Bharat Express                                       | 6 Days a week |
|    2 | 20101/20102 Nagpur-Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express                             | 6 Days a week |
|    3 | 20669/20670 Hubballi-Pune Vande Bharat Express                                   | 3 Days a week |
|    4 | 20673/20674 SCSM(T) Kolhapur-Pune Vande Bharat Express                           | 3 Days a week |
|    5 | 22961/22962 Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express                        | 6 Days a week |
|    6 | 20705/20706 H. S. Nanded-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj(T) Vande Bharat Express     | 6 Days a week |
|    7 | 22229/22230 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj(T)-                                      | 6 Days a week |
|    8 | 20911/20912 Indore-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express                                   | 6 Days a week |
|    9 | 22223/22224 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj(T)- Sainagar Shirdi Vande Bharat Express | 6 Days a week |
|   10 | 22225/22226 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj(T)-Solapur Vande Bharat Express          | 6 Days a week |
|   11 | 20825/20826 Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express                                 | 6 Days a week |
|   12 | 20901/20902 Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar Capital Vande Bharat Express              | 6 Days a week |

## Vande Bharat serving Madhya Pradesh:

|   SN | Train no. and name                                                                | Frequency     |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|
|    1 | 20171/20172 Rani Kamlapati-Hazrat Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express                 | 6 Days a week |
|    2 | 20173/20174 Rani Kamlapati-Rewa Vande Bharat Express                              | 6 Days a week |
|    3 | 20911/20912 Indore-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express                                    | 6 Days a week |
|    4 | 22469/22470 Khajuraho-Hazrat Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express                      | 6 Days a week |
|    5 | 26505/26506 Khajuraho-Banaras Vande Bharat Express (introduced w.e.f. 11.11.2025) | 6 Days a week |

These Vande Bharat services, inter alia, are providing connectivity to major destinations like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Shirdi, Nashik, Ratnagiri, Solapur, Secunderabad, Prayagraj, Banaras, Bhopal, Ujjain, Indore, Jabalpur, Khajuraho,  Maihar,  Rewa,  etc.   and  are  thereby  catering  to  the  needs  of Pilgrims and Tourists as well.

Besides, introduction of new trains including Vande Bharat train services on any route/section depends on various factors which include:

- 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

## Track infrastructure

Strengthening, upgradation, modernisation and improvement of track infrastructure  is  a  continuous  and  ongoing  process  over  Indian  Railways. The  following  measures  are  being  taken  by  Indian  Railways  to  upgrade

## railway tracks:

- I. Modern  track  structure  consisting  of  60kg,  90  Ultimate  Tensile Strength (UTS) rails, Wider and heavier Pre-stressed  Concrete Sleepers (PSC) with elastic fastening, fan-shaped layout turnout on PSC sleepers and H-beam Sleepers on girder bridges are being used while carrying out primary track renewals.
- II. The  Thick  Web  Switches  and  Weldable  CMS  Crossings  are  being used in turnout renewal works.
- III. Supply  of  260m  long  rail  panels  have  been  increased  to  avoid welding of joints, thereby improving safety.
- IV. Thick Web Switch Expansion Joints are being used in place of earlier Conventional/Improved SEJs.
- V. Adoption  of  better  welding  technology  for  rails  i.e.  Flash  Butt Welding.
- VI. Adoption  of  mechanized  system  for  track  maintenance  using  high output  plain  tampers  and  points  &  crossing  tampers  for  improved maintainability & reliability of track.
- VII. Deployment of state-of-the-art modern  machines  including Rail Grinding Machines to further improve asset reliability.
- VIII. Mechanisation of track laying activities through use of track machines like PQRS, TRT, T-28 etc.
- IX. Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates for enhancing safety at LC gates.
10. Use  of  advanced  Phased  Array  technology  of  testing  of  rail  and
- X. welds.
- XI. Deployment  of  Integrated  Track  Monitoring  Systems  (ITMS)  and Oscillation Monitoring System (OMS) for comprehensive  health assessment to ascertain optimal maintenance requirements.

- XII. Adoption of portable Track Measuring Trolley for continuous recording of track parameters in yards.

Using  web  enabled  Track  Management  System  (TMS)  for  integration  and data  analytics  of  the  track  inspection  records  received  through  various sources to enable precise maintenance inputs.

As  a  result  of  above  measures,  there  has  been  significant  increase  in speed  potential  of  the  tracks.  The  details  of  speed  potential  of  railway tracks during 2014 vis-a-vis 2025 are as under:

| Sectional Speed   | 2014     | 2014   | 2025 (up to Dec'25)   | 2025 (up to Dec'25)   |
|-------------------|----------|--------|-----------------------|-----------------------|
| (kmph)            | Track Km | %      | Track Km              | %                     |
| 130 & above       | 5,036    | 6.3    | 23,010                | 21.8                  |
| 110 - 130         | 26,409   | 33.3   | 61,234                | 57.9                  |
| < 110             | 47,897   | 60.4   | 21,428                | 20.3                  |
| Total             | 79,342   | 100    | 1,05,672              | 100                   |

## Affordable Fares

Railways are running different types of train services like  suburban locals/ordinary,  non-suburban local/ordinary, Mail/Express,  Superfast trains, Garib Rath, Gatimaan, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto,  Mahamana,  Amrit Bharat,  Vande  Bharat,  Vande  Bharat  Sleeper,  Namo  Bharat  Rapid  Rail, Humsafar, Tejas, Special trains on special charges etc.

Railways always strive to provide affordable services to all strata of society. Accordingly, it operates different categories of train services to cater to the

travel needs of various categories of society which include trains with lower fare to give benefit to underprivileged section of the society and also trains with enhanced facilities.

Indian  Railways  gave  subsidy  of  ₹  60,466  crore  on  passenger  tickets  in 2023-24. This amounts to concession of 45% on an average, to every person, travelling  on  Railways.  In  other  words,  if  the  cost  of  providing  service  is ₹ 100, then the price of ticket is ₹ 55 only. This subsidy is continuing for all passengers. Further, concessions beyond this subsidy amount are continuing for many categories like 4 categories of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjans), 11 categories of patients and 8 categories of students.

## Local cuisine options

The menu of prestigious Vande Bharat trains are being designed by Indian Railway  Catering  and  Tourism  Corporation  Ltd.  (IRCTC),  on  the  basis  of regional/popular demand by the travelling passengers. IRCTC has introduced Regional/local  cuisines  of  Maharashtra  and  Madhya  Pradesh  in  the  Vande Bharat trains operating in the states, towards offering a more personalized experience.  Some  of  the  Regional/local  dishes  introduced  are  Paneer Kolhapuri, Murg Kolhapuri, Kobhichi Bha, Batata Muttor Bhaji, Batata Poha, Kanda Poha, Indori Poha, Sev tamatar sabji, Ajwain paratha, Ragi Bhakhri, Patra Bhagar, Khoya Chicken, Ragi Thepla, Bhey (Spicy Lotus stems), etc.

Introduction  of  these  Regional/local  dishes  have  given  passengers  the opportunity  to  enjoy  authentic  local  flavors  and  connect  with  the  local culture.

*****