17 Vande Bharat trains ply with 100 per cent occupancy, 13 with half of seats vacant

Kannur: As many as 17 Vande Bharat Express trains, including two in Kerala, are operating at full capacity across the country. However, in 13 out of 59 Vande Bharat trains, half of the seats remain unoccupied.

A number of 18 out of 59 are running with 16 coaches. All 1016 seats of Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Vande Bharat with 16 coaches are running with full seats occupied. All 474 seats on the Mangaluru-Thiruvananthapuram trains are also occupied. However, in Mangaluru-Goa Vande Bharat, out of 474 seats, there were instances when even 300 seats were vacant. It is indicated that Vande Bharat suffered a setback due to the 'excessive rate' charged in the Konkan route. 

Three Vande Bharat trains are running in the country with 20 coaches. Out of this, 1118 seats out of 1328 seats in Nagpur-Secunderabad Vande Bharat are generally unoccupied. 

The Railways evaluates that sanctioning of Vande Bharat trains according to zonal requirements without considering the route density has caused setbacks in these routes.