7 Vande Bharat trains including Mangaluru–Thiruvananthapuram service to get more coaches
New Delhi: The Railway Board has decided to upgrade Vande Bharat trains with more coaches on seven operational routes after reviewing high occupancy levels, officials said.
The routes selected for augmentation are:
- Mangaluru Central–Thiruvananthapuram Central
- Secunderabad–Tirupati
- Chennai Egmore–Tirunelveli
- Madurai–Bengaluru Cantt
- Deoghar–Varanasi
- Howrah–Rourkela
- Indore–Nagpur
Officials said released trains will also be introduced on some new routes.
Upgrade details
At present, four 8-car and three 16-car Vande Bharat trains operate on these routes.
“The 16-car train will be upgraded to 20-car and those having 8-car will be increased to 16-car,” said Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information and Publicity, Railway Board.
He further noted, “On the basis of occupancy for Financial Year 2025-26 (up to 31.07.2025) and feasibility for augmentation, a tentative augmentation of three 16-car Vande Bharat train services with 20-car and four 8-car Vande Bharat trains with 16-car has been planned.”
Additional availability
Officials said more 20-car Vande Bharat trains will be ready for launch and one 16-car train will be available for augmentation.
“A tentative replacement plan of Vande Bharat train service is planned on the basis of occupancy. After this, the released rakes of 16-car and 8-car will be utilised for running new services,” Kumar added.
Immediate expansion
According to the plan, Mangaluru Central–Thiruvananthapuram Central, Secunderabad–Tirupati and Chennai Egmore–Tirunelveli routes with existing 16-car services will be upgraded to 20-car. The remaining four routes currently operating with 8-car services will be expanded to 16-car.