Vande Bharat Express: Barring Ranchi-Patna, All Four Newly Launched Trains Show Below-Expectation Occupancy Rate

The Indian Railways is preparing to launch three Vande Bharat trains on 7 July from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. However, according to data, the occupancy rate of recently launched Vande Bharat Express on four new routes were not very encouraging.

Five Vande Bharat trains were flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 June for Ranchi-Patna, Bhopal-Indore, Bhopal-Jabalpur, Bangalore-Dharwar, Goa-Mumbai routes.

However, barring Ranchi-Patna, ticket bookings on all four Vande Bharat Express with eight-coach each are showing much below the expectation.

According to the latest data prepared on 29 June, Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat service recorded just 29 per cent occupancy where as the return journey of Indore-Bhopal Vande Bharat Express had only 21 per cent occupancy, a poor response to the much tauted semi-high speed train service.

Bhopal-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express has clocked 32 per cent occupancy while the return journey on Jabalpur-Bhopal Vande Bharat service has shown 36 per cent occupancy.

Incidentally, the 16-coach Bhopal-Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express shown 94 per cent occupancy on 29 June, while the return journey on the same route has recorded 94 per cent occupancy, a satisfactory parametre for commercial operation of a particular route.

Bangalore-Dharwad Vande Bharat service has shown 60 per cent occupancy rate while the Dharwad-Bangalore Vande Bharat service has recorded 59 per cent occupancy.

Goa-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express has recorded 55 per cent occupancy, while the Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat service has recorded a good showing at 90 per cent.

Considering Goa beaches as a much sought after tourist spot, the Railways considered launching the Vande Bharat train on this route.

The Ranchi-Patna Vande Bharat train has shown houseful from day one, with over 100 per cent occupancy on both routes. While Patna-Ranchi Vande Bharat Express has shown 125 per cent occupancy rate, Ranch-Patna service has also recorded 123 per cent occupancy, indicating the heavy demand for both destinations.

Meanwhile, Kasaragod-Trivandrum Vande Bharat service has shown highest occupancy rate among all Vande Bharat Express trains till date.

It has recorded 182 per cent occupancy rate, while the return journey of Trivandrum-Kasaragod Vande Bharat Express has shown 176 per cent, an indication of heavy demand.

Mumbai-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express, Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express, Delhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat Express and Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express are also showing excellent results with more than 100 per cent bookings on their forward and return journey.