**Executive Summary**
The Ministry of Railways provides an update on the expansion and technical specifications of indigenously manufactured Vande Bharat Chair Car and Sleeper services. As of March 12, 2026, 162 Chair Car services are operational, with the first Sleeper service having commenced on January 22, 2026. The report highlights advanced safety features, enhanced passenger amenities, and the criteria governing the introduction of new routes.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**Advanced Safety Features**
* **Collision Prevention:** Trains are equipped with KAVACH technology and AI-enabled systems to enhance passenger safety.
* **Structural Integrity:** Features include jerk-free semi-permanent couplers, anti-climbing features, and crashworthy car body designs complying with EN standards.
* **Fire Safety:** Coaches utilize aerosol-based fire detection and suppression systems in electrical cabinets and lavatories, alongside fire barrier doors in sleeper variants.
* **Monitoring:** High-resolution CCTVs are installed in all coaches, supported by a Coach Condition Monitoring System (CCMS) for remote oversight.
**Technical Specifications and Performance**
* **Speed:** Trains are designed for an operating speed of 160 KMPH and a design speed of 180 KMPH.
* **Operational Efficiency:** Features include regenerative braking for energy efficiency and driver-guard communication with voice recording and crash-hardened memory.
* **Accessibility:** Centrally controlled automatic plug doors and fully sealed wider gangways are standard across the fleet.
**Passenger Amenities and Hygiene**
* **Health Standards:** Air conditioning units incorporate indigenously developed UV-C lamp-based disinfection systems to deactivate 99% of harmful bacteria.
* **Inclusivity:** Special lavatories for Divyangjan passengers are provided in the driving coaches at both ends.
* **Comfort:** Sleeper variants include ergonomically designed ladders for upper berths and improved ride comfort features.
**Operational Expansion Criteria**
* **Current Status:** 81 pairs (162 services) of Chair Car trains are active; two Sleeper trains have been manufactured following extensive trials.
* **Deployment Factors:** The introduction of new services depends on section capacity, path availability, rolling stock availability, infrastructure readiness, track maintenance, and occupancy requirements.
**Impact Analysis**
**Middle Class and General Passengers**
**Impact**
Passengers gain access to affordable, high-quality, and high-speed travel options equipped with modern safety and hygiene standards.
**Action Required**
Utilize the expanded network of 162+ Chair Car and Sleeper services for intercity and long-distance travel.
**Divyangjan Passengers**
**Impact**
Enhanced accessibility through specialized infrastructure, specifically dedicated lavatory facilities.
**Action Required**
Utilize the specific facilities provided in the driving coaches of the train sets.
**State Governments**
**Impact**
The Central Government is seeking support from State authorities to facilitate the continued expansion of the Vande Bharat network.
**Action Required**
Provide necessary administrative and logistical support to the Centre for service expansion.
**Indian Railways**
**Impact**
The organization is tasked with a holistic approach to rolling stock development, involving prototype testing and series production.
**Action Required**
Continuously monitor track maintenance, occupancy, and infrastructure availability to determine the feasibility of new Vande Bharat routes.
Key Entities Referenced
Vande Bharat Express: An indigenously designed and manufactured high-speed train initiative by Indian Railways, comprising both Chair Car and Sleeper variants with advanced safety features.
Ministry of Railways: The primary government body responsible for the development, operation, and nationwide expansion of Vande Bharat services.
Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw: The Union Minister for Railways who provided the policy details regarding the performance and safety infrastructure of the Vande Bharat fleet.
KAVACH: An indigenous automatic train protection system implemented across the Vande Bharat network to significantly enhance operational safety.
Ministry of Railways
Amid High-occupancy & Popularity of Vande
Bharat Chair Car Services, Centre seeks State
Support in its Expansion
Indian Railways Takes Proactive Steps for Common Man:
Affordable, Comfortable Vande Bharat Travel Boosting
Convenience for Middle Class Passengers
Equipped with Semi-Permanent Couplers, Anti-Climbing
Features and AI-Enabled Systems, Vande Bharat Trains
Significantly Enhance Passenger Safety Across the Country:
Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw
Posted On: 18 MAR 2026 6:29PM by PIB Delhi
Indian Railways (IR) is focussed on providing affordable, good quality services to all sections of society.
With a view to improve travel experience of the passengers, Indian Railways have introduced
indigenously designed and manufactured Vande Bharat (Sleeper & Chair Car) Express services with
modern coaches, advanced safety features and passenger amenities.
Vande Bharat services [Chair Car]:
Indian Railways, with a view to improve travel experience of the passengers, have introduced
indigenously designed and manufactured Vande Bharat trains with modern coaches, advanced safety
features and passenger amenities. These Vande Bharat Chair Car Trains have following features:
Jerk Free Semi-Permanent couplers.
Fitted with KAVACH.
Centrally controlled Automatic Plug Doors and Fully Sealed wider gangways.
Emergency Alarm Push buttons and Talk Back Units on all Coaches.
Improved fire safety – Aerosol based fire detection and suppression system in electrical cabinets and
lavatories.
Higher acceleration with design/operating speed of 180/160 KMPH.
Driver-Guard communication with voice recording facility & Crash hardened memory.
Air conditioning units provided with indigenously developed UV-C lamp based disinfection system for
deactivating 99% harmful bacteria from conditioned air to improve the hygiene standards inside the
passenger area.Better Ride Comfort.
CCTVs in all Coaches.
For Divyangjan passengers special lavatory in the driving coaches on each end.
Coach condition monitoring System (CCMS) display with remote monitoring
Major safety features that we have introduced in the #VandeBharat trains are anti-
climbing, fencing on both sides of the track, KAVACH and the fitting of the high
resolution cameras: Hon’ble MR Shri @AshwiniVaishnaw pic.twitter.com/ksW7KC
3IbQ
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) March 18, 2026
As on 12.03.2026, the following 162 Vande Bharat train services (Chair Car) are being operated on the
Indian Railways network, as under:-
SN Train No. and Name
1 22435/22436 New Delhi - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
2 22439/22440 Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express
3 20901/20902 Gandhinagar Capital - Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express
4 22447/22448 Amb Andura - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express
5 20607/20608 Mysuru - MGR Chennai Central Vande Bharat Express
6 20825/20826 Nagpur - Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express
7 22301/22302 New Jalpaiguri - Howrah Vande Bharat Express
8 20833/20834 Secunderabad - Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express
9 22223/22224 Sainagar Shirdi - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express
10 22225/22226 Solapur - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express
11 20171/20172 Nizamuddin - Rani Kamlapati Vande Bharat Express
12 20701/20702 Tirupati - Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express
13 20643/20644 Coimbatore - Chennai Vande Bharat Express14 20977/20978 Chandigarh - Ajmer Vande Bharat Express
15 20633/20634 Thiruvananthapuram- Kasargod Vande Bharat Express
16 22895/22896 Puri - Howrah Vande Bharat Express
17 22457/22458 Dehradun - Anand Vihar Vande Bharat Express
18 22227/22228 Guwahati - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express
19 20911/20912 Nagpur - Indore Vande Bharat Express
20 22229/22230 Madgaon - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express
21 22349/22350 Ranchi - Patna Vande Bharat Express
22 20661/20662 Dharwar - Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express
23 20173/20174 Rewa - Rani Kamlapati Vande Bharat Express
24 22549/22550 Gorakhpur - Prayagraj Vande Bharat Express
25 12461/12462 Sabarmati - Jodhpur Vande Bharat Express
26 22925/22926 Okha - Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express
27 20665/20666 Tirunelveli - Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat Express
28 20677/20678 Narsapur - Chennai Vande Bharat Express
29 20703/20704 Yesvantpur - Kacheguda Vande Bharat Express
30 20631/20632 Thiruvananthapuram- Mangaluru Vande Bharat Express
31 26963/26964 Udaipur - Asarva Vande Bharat Express
32 22347/22348 Patna - Howrah Vande Bharat Express
33 20835/20836 Puri - Rourkela Vande Bharat Express
34 20897/20898 Ranchi - Howrah Vande Bharat Express
35 22415/22416 New Delhi - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express36 20641/20642 Coimbatore - Bengaluru Cant Vande Bharat Express
37 20645/20646 Mangaluru - Madgaon Vande Bharat Express
38 20705/20706 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) - Nanded Vande Bharat Express
39 22477/22478 Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express
40 22425/22426 Anand Vihar - Ayodhya Cantt. Vande Bharat Express
41 22487/22488 Amritsar - Delhi Vande Bharat Express
42 22962/22961 Mumbai Central - Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express
43 20707/20708 Visakhapatnam - Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express
44 20663/20664 Chennai - Mysuru Vande Bharat Express
45 22233/22234 Patna - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express
46 22470/22469 Khajuraho - Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express
47 22231/22232 Bengaluru - Kalburagi Vande Bharat Express
48 20841/20842 Visakhapatnam - Bhubaneswar Vande Bharat Express
49 22345/22346 Gomti Nagar - Patna Vande Bharat Express
50 20887/20888 Varanasi - Ranchi Vande Bharat Express
51 22545/22546 Dehradun - Lucknow Jn Vande Bharat Express
52 22490/22489 Varanasi - Meerut City Vande Bharat Express
53 20627/20628 Nagercoil - Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat Express
54 20671/20672 Bengaluru Cantt - Madurai Vande Bharat Express
55 22500/22499 Deoghar - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
56 22309/22310 Jamalpur - Howrah Vande Bharat Express
57 20871/20872 Rourkela - Howrah Vande Bharat Express58 20893/20894 Patna - Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express
59 20892/20891 Tatanagar - Brahmapur Vande Bharat Express
60 22303/22304 Gaya - Howrah Vande Bharat Express
61 20669/20670 Pune - Hubballi Vande Bharat Express
62 20673/20674 Pune - Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express
63 20101/20102 Secunderabad - Nagpur Vande Bharat Express
64 20829/20830 Visakhapatnam - Durg Vande Bharat Express
65 21893/21894 Patna - Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express
66 21895/21896 Patna - Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express
67 20176/20175 Banaras - Agra Cantt. Vande Bharat Express
68 26901/26902 Veraval - Sabarmati Vande Bharat Express
69 26401/26402 Srinagar - Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express
70 26403/26404 Srinagar -Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express
71 26502/26501 Patliputra - Gorakhpur Vande Bharat Express
72 26751/26752 KSR Bengaluru - Belagavi Vande Bharat Express
73 26406/26405 Amritsar - Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express
74 26101/26102 Pune - Ajni Vande Bharat Express
75 26302/26301 Jogbani - Danapur Vande Bharat Express
76 26481/26482 Delhi Cantt - Jodhpur Vande Bharat Express
77 26471/26472 Delhi Cantt - Bikaner Vande Bharat Express
78 26462/26461 Delhi - Firozpur Cantt. Vande Bharat Express
79 26651/26652 Ernakulam - KSR Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express80 26506/26505 Khajuraho - Banaras Vande Bharat Express
81 26504/26503 Saharanpur - Gomtinagar Vande Bharat Express
Vande Bharat services [Sleeper]:
For long distance travel the Sleeper variant of Vande Bharat Express has been indigenously designed
and developed. Two such trains have already been m anufactured. After extensive trials, these trains have
been introduced on Indian Railways. The First Vande Bharat Sleeper service viz. 27575/27576 Howrah-
Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express has commenced regular operation w.e.f. 22.01.2026.
The process of development of new rolling stocks like Vande Sleeper necessitates a holistic approach,
combining technological innovation, strategic planning and manufacturing to ensure a safe, reliable and
comfortable travel. This involves development of prototype, extensive testing and trials followed by series
production. To improve travel experience of the passengers and set new benchmarks in terms of safe and
comfortable journey, these train sets have been provided with modern coaches having advanced safety
features and passenger amenities like:
Jerk-Free Semi permanent couplers and Anti Climbers.
Fitted with KAVACH.
Higher acceleration with design/operating speed of 180/160 KMPH.
Crashworthy Design of Car body complying with EN standards.
Fire barrier doors at the end of each coach for compliance of Fire Safety standards.
Aerosol based fire detection and suppression system in electrical cabinets and lavatories.
Regenerative braking system for energy efficiency.
Air conditioning units provided with indigenously developed UV-C lamp based disinfection system for
deactivating 99% harmful bacteria from conditioned air to improve the hygiene standards inside the
passenger area.
Centrally controlled Automatic Plug Doors and Fully Sealed wider gangways.
CCTVs in all coaches.
Emergency talk-back unit for communication between Passenger and Train Manager/Loco Pilot in case of
emergency.
For Divyangjan passengers special lavatory in the driving coaches on each end.
Centralized Coach Monitoring System for better condition monitoring of passenger amenities such as Air
conditioning, Saloon Lighting etc.
Ergonomically designed ladder for ease of climbing on to upper berths.
As on 12.03.2026, the following 02 Vande Bharat train services (Sleeper Car) are being operated on the
Indian Railways network:
SN Train No. and Name1 27575/27576 Howrah - Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express
Besides, introduction of new train services, including Vande Bharat services and its variants, is an on-
going process, which depends on various factors which include-
● Capacity of that section
● Availability of path
● Availability of required rolling stock
● Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock
● Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets.
● Occupancy and the traffic requirement of the section.
This information was provided by the Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting and
Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a reply to questions in Lok Sabha
today.
*****
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