Railways mulls stopping production of Vande Bharat seating express; New plans underway

CHENNAI: Vande Bharat trains have revolutionised rail transport in India to an elite level, which was beyond imagination a few years back. The country's first Vande Bharat service was launched on the New Delhi-Varanasi route on February 15, 2019. Entering its seventh year, Indian Railways has around 100 trains in the Vande Bharat seating category. Some reports are now suggesting that the Railways is considering completely stopping the production of Vande Bharat seating trains.

The 20-rake Vande Bharat train, which arrived in Kerala earlier this month, is the 90th in the nation. Vande Bharat trains are currently operating, connecting all major cities in India. The purported plan is to stop production when the total number of trains hits 100. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had earlier announced that 200 Vande Bharat trains, 100 non-AC Amrit Bharat trains and 50 Vande Sleepers will be launched in 2025-26 and 2025-27.

Vande Bharat is super hit on most routes in the country, and Kerala is one of the states with the highest occupancy rate for the elite train. The railways are considering cutting down service on routes with low occupancy rates. After Vande Bharat seating express trains, the railways are planning to focus more on Vande Bharat sleeper and Amrit Bharat trains.

Amrit Bharat 1 and 2 versions do not have AC coaches. There are general coaches and sleeper coaches. Amrit Bharat 2.2. version will also make an entry soon in Indian tracks. This train will come with AC coaches. It is being manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai and the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala.

The Vande series includes Vande Sleeper and Vande Metro (Namo Bharat). It is known that more of these models will be manufactured in the coming years.