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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5337
TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026
ERGONOMIC BERTHS IN TRAINS
5337. SMT. APARAJITA SARANGI:
SHRI BHOJRAJ NAG:
SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH CHOUDHARY:
SHRI TEJASVI SURYA:
SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:
SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:
SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR SINGH:
SHRI SHANKAR LALWANI:
SHRI DINESHBHAI MAKWANA:
SHRI RAMESH AWASTHI:
SMT. KAMLESH JANGDE:
SHRI NABA CHARAN MAJHI:
SHRI JANARDAN MISHRA:
SHRI MAHESH KASHYAP:
SHRI ALOK SHARMA:
SHRI CHAVDA VINOD LAKHAMSHI:
SHRI MANISH JAISWAL:
SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the inclusion of ‘Ergonomic Berths’ and advanced noise
reduction technology improved the overnight travel experience for
passengers of trains and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the details of specific progress made towards the target of launching 30
new Sleeper rakes by December 2026;
(c) whether the Government has successfully completed the trial runs for
the 24-coach Vande Bharat Sleeper prototype at Integral Coach Factory
(ICF) Chennai;
(d) if so, the details thereof including Jharkhand particularly Hazaribagh
and Ramgarh district, district-wise;
(e) whether travel time has been successfully reduced on the Howrah-
Guwahati corridor compared to traditional/existing superfast express
trains and if so, the details thereof;
§ Page 1 of 8(f) the number of Vande Bharat trains proposed to be running through
Jharkhand;
(g) whether the Government is taking steps to introduce Vande Bharat
sleeper train service from Raipur to Raigarh via Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh
and if so, the details thereof;
(h) the name of cities proposed to be connected with Vande Bharat sleeper
train from Bhopal; and
(i) whether the Government proposes to operate new Vande Bharat train
service in the Kachchh Lok Sabha Constituency of Gujarat, if so, the
details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
(a) to (i) Modernization and Improvement/up-gradation of Rolling Stock
to enhance safety, convenience and comfort of passengers is a
continuous and ongoing process on Indian Railways (IR). This includes
ergonomic design of seats and provision of noise reduction
technologies like sound insulation paints, use of improved suspension
etc.
For long distance travel, the Sleeper variant of Vande Bharat
Express has been indigenously designed and developed.
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.
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.
Page 2 of 8 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.
Presently, the following 01 pair Vande Bharat train services
(Sleeper Car) are being operated on the Indian Railways network:
SN Train No. and Name
27575/27576 Howrah - Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper
1
Express
The travel time of 27575/27576 Howrah-Kamakhya Vande Bharat
Sleeper Express is 14 hrs in each direction. This is more than 2hours
lesser than the fastest train on the sector in both directions.
As the railway network straddles across State boundaries,
trains are operated as per network requirement, across such
boundaries. However, Indian Railways, on originating/terminating
basis, have introduced 14 Vande Bharat Chair Car services catering to
the needs of the stations located in the State of Jharkhand. The list of
these Vande Bharat train services is given below:-
Page 3 of 8SN Train no. and name
1 20893/20894 Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express
2 20897/20898 Ranchi-Howrah Vande Bharat Express
3 22499/22500 Varanasi-Deoghar Vande Bharat Express
4 20891/20892 Tatanagar-Brahmapur Vande Bharat Express
5 21895/21896 Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express
6 20887/20888 Ranchi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
7 21893/21894 Tatanagar-Patna Vande Bharat Express
Presently, Raipur station is served by 04 Vande Bharat Chair Car
services. Similarly, Bilaspur is served by 02 Vande Bharat Chair Car
services while Bhopal/Rani Kamlapati is served by 06 Vande Bharat
Chair Car services These are listed below:-
Vande Bharat Chair Car serving Raipur
SN Train No. & Number
1 20825/20826 Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express
2 20829/20830 Durg-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express
Vande Bharat Chair Car serving Bilaspur
SN Train No. & Number
1 20825/20826 Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express
Vande Bharat Chair Car serving Bhopal/Rani Kamlapati
SN Train No. & Number
1 20911/20912 Indore-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express
20171/72 Rani Kamalapati-Hazrat Nizamuddin Vande Bharat
2
Express
Page 4 of 83 20173/20174 Rani Kamalapati-Rewa Vande Bharat Express
Further, Raipur-Raigarh sector is presently served by 25 pairs of train
services which are listed below:
SN Train No. & Number
1 12069/70 Gondia -Raigarh Jan Shatabdi Express
2 12129/30 Pune -Howrah Express
3 12151/52 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Shalimar Express
4 12409/10 Hazrat Nizamuddin -Raigarh Express
5 12809/10 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T)-Howrah Express
6 12811/12 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Hatia Express
7 12833/34 Ahmedabad -Howrah Express
8 12859/60 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T)-Howrah Express
9 12879/80 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Bhubaneswar Express
10 12905/06 Porbandar-Shalimar Express
11 13287/88 Durg-Ara Express
12 13425/26 Surat-Malda Town Express
13 17005/06 Hyderabad-Raxaul Express
14 17007/08 Charlapalli-Darbhanga Express
15 18029/30 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Shalimar Express
16 18109/10 NSCB Itwari-Tatanagar Express
17 20813/14 Jodhpur -Puri Express
18 20917/18 Indore -Puri Express
19 22357/58 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Gaya Express
20 22511/12 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Kamakhya Express
21 22845/46 Pune -Hatia Express
22 22865/66 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Puri Express
23 22893/94 Sainagar Shirdi-Howrah Express
24 22905/06 Okha-Shalimar Express
25 68861/62 Gondia -Jharsuguda MEMU
At present, Bhuj and Gandhidham stations of Kutch region are served
by 24 and 50 train services respectively both including the services of
94801/94802 Ahmedabad-Bhuj Namo Bharat Rapid Rail as under:
Trains services serving Bhuj:
Page 5 of 8SN Train No. & Name
1 94801 Ahmedabad-Bhuj Namo Bharat Rapid Rail
2 94802 Bhuj-Ahmedabad Namo Bharat Rapid Rail
3 11091 Bhuj-Pune Express
4 11092 Pune-Bhuj Express
5 12959 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express
6 12960 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express
7 12965 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express
8 12966 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express
9 14311 Bareilly-Bhuj Ala Hazrat Express
10 14312 Bhuj-Bareilly Ala Hazrat Express
11 14321 Bareilly-Bhuj Express
12 14322 Bhuj-Bareilly Express
13 20907 Dadar-Bhuj Express
14 20908 Bhuj-Dadar Express
15 20927 Palanpur-Bhuj Express
16 20928 Bhuj-Palanpur Express
17 20983 Bhuj-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express
18 20984 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Bhuj Express
19 22829 Bhuj-Shalimar Express
20 22830 Shalimar-Bhuj Express
21 22903 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express
22 22904 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express
23 22955 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Kutch Express
24 22956 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Kutch Express
Train services serving Gandhidham:
SN Train No. & Name
1 94801 Ahmedabad-Bhuj Namo Bharat Rapid Rail
2 94802 Bhuj-Ahmedabad Namo Bharat Rapid Rail
3 11091 Bhuj-Pune Express
4 11092 Pune-Bhuj Express
12473 Gandhidham-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Sarvodaya
5
Express
12474 Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-Gandhidham Sarvodaya
6
Express
7 12937 Gandhidham-Howrah Garba Express
8 12938 Howrah-Gandhidham Garba Express
Page 6 of 89 12959 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express
10 12960 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express
11 12965 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express
12 12966 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express
13 12993 Gandhidham-Puri Express
14 12994 Puri-Gandhidham Express
15 14311 Bareilly-Bhuj Ala Hazrat Express
16 14312 Bhuj-Bareilly Ala Hazrat Express
17 14321 Bareilly-Bhuj Express
18 14322 Bhuj-Bareilly Express
19 15667 Gandhidham-Kamakhya Express
20 15668 Kamakhya-Gandhidham Express
21 16335 Gandhidham-Nagercoil Express
22 16336 Nagercoil-Gandhidham Express
23 19405 Palanpur-Gandhidham Express
24 19406 Gandhidham-Palanpur Express
25 20685 Gandhidham-KSR Bengaluru Express
26 20686 KSR Bengaluru-Gandhidham Express
27 20803 Visakhapatnam-Gandhidham Express
28 20804 Gandhidham-Visakhapatnam Express
29 20907 Dadar-Bhuj Express
30 20908 Bhuj-Dadar Express
31 20923 Tirunelveli-Gandhidham Humsafar Express
32 20924 Gandhidham-Tirunelveli Humsafar Express
33 20927 Palanpur-Bhuj Express
34 20928 Bhuj-Palanpur Express
35 20935 Gandhidham-Indore Express
36 20936 Indore-Gandhidham Express
37 20983 Bhuj-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express
38 20984 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Bhuj Express
39 22483 Bhagat Ki Kothi-Gandhidham Express
40 22484 Gandhidham-Bhagat Ki Kothi Express
41 22829 Bhuj-Shalimar Express
42 22830 Shalimar-Bhuj Express
43 22903 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Express
44 22904 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Express
45 22951 Bandra(T)-Gandhidham Express
Page 7 of 846 22952 Gandhidham-Bandra(T) Express
47 22955 Bandra(T)-Bhuj Kutch Express
48 22956 Bhuj-Bandra(T) Kutch Express
49 22973 Gandhidham-Puri Express
50 22974 Puri-Gandhidham Express
Besides, introduction of train services, including Vande Bharat
train services and its variants, on any route/section, is an on-going
process, which depends on various factors including:
● 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.
*****
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