Vande Bharat Express Latest Update: Responding to high demand of passengers, the Indian Railways decided to double the coaches of Vande Bharat train on Chennai and Tirunelveli routes -- from eight to 16. In this regard, the Southern Railway initiated expansion and safety checks to support the increase, which will boost passenger capacity per trip from 530 to 1,228.
The Chennai Egmore – Tirunelveli Vande Bharat train (20665/20666), that has eight coaches, will soon be converted into a 16-coach train. Notably, this Vande Bharat Express on the route is one of the trains with the highest occupancy rates in the country, at 119%.
After the seating capacity is doubled, more executive chair cars are expected to be added. There would be a total of 1,100 seats in the train after the change, that means the train will have more capacity than the Shatabdi Express.
Notably, the 16-car coach is the standard for Vande Bharat trains, though some routes in North India have already expanded to 20-car trains to meet higher demand. The move has come from the Indian Railways to accommodate more passengers, resulting reduction in the waitlist.
Vande Bharat Express trains in India
Right now, Vande Bharat Express trains in India are having three types of car-coaches – 16-cars, 8-cars, and 20-cars. In the beginning, these trains were launched with 16-car coaches. Later, the number of coaches was reduced to 8 and was launched on some routes.
Recently, the Ministry of Railways introduced two 20 coaches Vande Bharat Express trains on New Delhi-Varanasi and Nagpur-Secunderabad routes.
130 Vande Bharat Express Trains running in India
Currently, over 130 services of Vande Bharat Express trains are operating in the country. Developed by Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF), these Vande Bharat Express trains have revolutionized rail travel in the country. The trains not only reduced the travel time between the two cities but also enhanced the travel experience.
New Vande Bharat Express Trains
From the time of its inception, the national transporter introduced three colour variants of Vande Bharat Express trains -- Blue and White; Orange-White; and then Orange-Grey.
Vande Bharat Express Current Version
Right now, two versions of Vande Bharat Express trains are available in the country -- Vande Bharat Chair Car and Namo Bharat Rapid Rail (also known as Vande Metro).
