Vande Bharat trains slowing down; what happened to speedster?

NEW DELHI: Railways has admitted that the Vandebharat trains, which impressed with their speed and state-of-the-art facilities, is slowing down. The reason for the acceptance of Vande Bharat trains, including in Kerala, was that the travel time was reduced. This is the reason why this latest addition to Indian Railways became a huge hit with the passengers.

Railways has openly admitted that the train is slowing down in response to an RTI query. Vande Bharat trains started running in the country in February 2019. There are currently two Vande Bharat trains operating in Kerala.

Vande Bharat travelled at an average speed of 84.48 kmph during 2020-21. However, by 2023-24, the speed has reached 76.25 kmph. Railway officials say that not only the Vande Bharat, but many other trains have seen a reduction in speed. Railways itself has given the reason behind the slow down of trains including Vande Bharat. However, the Vande Bharat train's manufacturing issues or the train's efficiency are not the reason for the slowdown.

Major renovation work is going on in the railway tracks in different parts of the country and trains often cannot go faster because of this. The Railways says that the new Vande Bharat trains have started running on routes with more difficult Railway lines, which has contributed to the decrease in average speed.

Trains running through Konkan regions are operating at a reduced speed for safety reasons. This is because of the hills and mountains. The railway also explains that the reduced speed of Vande Bharat services on this route to an average of 75 kmph during monsoon is also a reason.