Indian Railways To Rejig Vande Bharat Coach Numbers To Address Occupancy Rates

Catering to the growing demand of pilgrims for Tirupati, Indian Railways is converting eight-coach Secunderabad-Tirupati Vande Bharat Express into 16-coach train.

However, the 16-coach Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express would be reduced to eight-coach due to low occupancy rate this week.

Swarajya had reported about the Vande Bharat rejig plan stating "Indian Railways To Rejig Routes And Composition Of Some Vande Bharat Trains Facing Low Occupancy Rate" on 4 May.

Since the launching of the Tirupati Vande Bharat service, the train is running with full occupancy from Secunderabad and also during the return journey from Tirupati also.   

That is why it has been decided to increase the coaches from eight to 16 for Tirupati service, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

However, for the Bilaspur-Nagpur section, the railways has decided to reduce the 16-coach service to eight-coach train due to the low occupancy.

The occupancy rate in Bilaspur-Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express is about 50 per cent only which is much below for its commercial viability.

Faced with low occupancy rate in some Vande Bharat trains, the railways is planning some more changes in routes and composition of the trains to make the premier service commercially viable.

Currently, 15 pairs of Vande Bharat trains are operational with the occupancy rate ranging between 48 per cent and 203 per cent in April.

The sixteenth Vande Bharat Express would be launched from Puri for Howrah on 18 May.

Odisha's first Vande Bharat is expected to do well as the sea beach and Lord Jagannath attract a lot of tourists for Puri.

Though there are many trains including a Shatabdi service between Puri and Howrah, Vande Bharat Express is expected to reduce the travel time by more than an hour in comparison to Shatabdi.

Though there are seven stoppages between Puri and Howrah, the train would still be expected to be preferred for passengers because of its faster service and improved amenities.

The stoppages are Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Keonjhar Road, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar between Puri and Howrah.