Indian Railways Expands Vande Bharat Express Trains Fleet To 34 With Nine New Additions
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off nine Vande Bharat Express trains on Sunday, September 24, in a major boost to religious and tourism connectivity across 11 states namely Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.
Notably, the recent addition of 11 Vande Bharat to the Indian Railways’ semi-high-speed trains fleet has brought the total count of operational Vande Bharat Express trains to 34, complementing the 25 trains already in service across the country.
Addressing the nation during the flagging off ceremony of newly added express trains, PM Modi affirmed, “25 Vande Bharat trains are already running, now nine more will be added to them. The popularity of Vande Bharat trains is constantly rising. Over 1,11,00,000 passengers have already traveled on them.”
“Speed, the scale of infrastructure development is matching aspirations of 140 crore Indians…Today people of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Gujarat will get the facility of Vande Bharat Express trains. These new Vande Bharat Express trains depict the new energy of the country,” PM Modi added.
Details of the nine Vande Bharat trains flagged off today:
Udaipur-Jaipur Vande Bharat Express
Tirunelveli-Madurai-Chennai Vande Bharat Express
Hyderabad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express
Vijayawada-Chennai (via Renigunta) Vande Bharat Express
Patna-Howrah Vande Bharat Express
Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express
Rourkela- Bhubaneswar-Puri Vande Bharat Express
Ranchi-Howrah Vande Bharat Express
Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express
Details of already operational Vande Bharat trains:
Varanasi – New Delhi (22435)
New Delhi – SMVD KATRA (22439)
Mumbai Central- Gandhinagar CAP (20901)
New Delhi – Amb Andaura (22447)
Chennai – Mysuru (20607)
Bilaspur Junction – Nagpur Junction (20825) (Temporarily Replaced with Tejas Express)
Howrah-New Jalpaiguri (22301)
Secunderabad – Visakhapatnam (20834)
Mumbai -Sainagar Shirdi (22223)
Mumbai – Solapur (22225)
Bhopal-Delhi (20171)
Secunderabad-Tirupati (20701)
MGR Chennai Central – Coimbatore (20643)
Delhi Cantonment – Ajmer (20978)
Thiruvananthapuram Central -Kasaragod (20634)
Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat (22896)
Anand Vihar Terminal – Dehradun (22457)
New Jalpaiguri – Guwahati (22227)
Dharwad – Bengaluru (20662)
Patna – Ranchi (22349)
Bhopal – Indore (20911)
Bhopal – Jabalpur (20173)Jabalpur – Bhopal (20174)
Mumbai – Goa (22229)Goa – Mumbai (22230)
Gorakhpur – Lucknow (22549)Lucknow- Gorakhpur (22550)
Ahmedabad – Jodhpur (12462)Jodhpur – Ahmedabad (12461)
Significantly, there are over 60 proposed Vande Bharat Express trains which are in making to hit the Indian tracks by the year-end. It will cover services in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, among others.
Modern features of Vande Bharat Express trains:
Vande Bharat Express is equipped with KAVACH security system.
Enhanced acceleration and semi-high-speed operation up to 160 KMPH.
Fully sealed gangway for seamless passenger movement.
Reclining ergonomic seats with revolving seats in executive class.
Special lavatory for Divyangjan passengers in DTC.
CCTVs installed in all coaches for enhanced safety.
Aerosol-based fire detection and suppression system for better fire safety in electrical cabinets and lavatories.
Driver-Guard communication with voice recording and crash-hardened memory.
Coach Condition Monitoring System (CCMS) display with remote monitoring.
Disaster lights – 4 numbers in each coach for emergency situations.
Vande Bharat Express trains have made remarkable progress in transforming India’s railway network. Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw earlier said that a total fund of Rs 1343.72 crore has been allocated for the making of Vande Bharat trains.
These semi-high-speed trains are redefining benchmarks in passenger comfort, safety, and operational efficiency. They are designed with the objective of offering a world-class travel experience to passengers, equipped with top-notch features, fundamentally changing the way people traverse the country.
