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O.I.H
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3932
ANSWERED ON 27.03.2026
EXPANSION OF VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS TRAIN SERVICES FROM RANCHI
3932# SMT. MAHUA MAJI:
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) whether there is any proposal to increase the number of Vande Bharat Express trains from Ranchi,
Jharkhand, to other States and to reduce the train fare so as to provide passengers with fast, safe and
comfortable travel at affordable rates, if so, the details thereof along with the new routes proposed in
this regard; and
(b) whether Government is taking steps for expanding the necessary resources and infrastructure to
augment the Vande Bharat train services between Ranchi and important neighbouring cities, if so, the
details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
(a) & (b) Indian Railways (IR), with a view to improve travel experience of the passengers, have
introduced indigenously designed and manufactured Vande Bharat (Sleeper & Chair Car) services with
modern coaches, advanced safety features and passenger amenities as detailed below:
Vande Bharat services (Chair Car):
• 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.
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§• 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
Vande Bharat services (Sleeper):
Further, to cater to long distance travel, IR has introduced the sleeper variant of Vande Bharat
Express. Broad Technological advancements and safety features provided in these Vande Bharat
Sleeper Trains are as below:
• 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 23.03.2026, the following 01 pair Vande Bharat train service (Sleeper Car) and 81 pairs of Vande
Bharat train services (Chair Car) are being operated on the Indian Railways network:
Vande Bharat Sleeper Car:
SN Train No. and Name
1 27575/27576 Howrah - Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express
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§Vande Bharat Chair Car:
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 Express
14 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
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§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 Express
36 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
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§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 Express
58 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 Express
80 26506/26505 Khajuraho - Banaras Vande Bharat Express
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§81 26504/26503 Saharanpur - Gomtinagar Vande Bharat Express
As the railway network straddles across State boundaries, trains are operated as per network
requirement, across such boundaries. However, following 03 pairs of Vande Bharat (Chair Car)
services, on originating/terminating basis, are catering to the needs of Ranchi station as listed below:
SN Train no. and name
1 20897/20898 Ranchi-Howrah Vande Bharat Express
2 20887/20888 Ranchi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
3 22349/22350 Patna-Ranchi Vande Bharat Express
In addition to aforementioned three pairs of Vande Bharat Services, Ranchi is also being served by 106
train services as listed below:-
SN Train no. and name
1 12019 Howrah -Ranchi Shatabdi Express
2 12020 Ranchi-Howrah Shatabdi Express
3 12365 Patna -Ranchi Jan Shatabdi Express
4 12366 Ranchi-Patna Jan Shatabdi Express
5 12453 Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express
6 12454 New Delhi-Ranchi Rajdhani Express
7 12817 Hatia-Anand Vihar (T) Express
8 12818 Anand Vihar (T)-Hatia Express
9 12825 Ranchi-Anand Vihar (T) Express
10 12826 Anand Vihar (T)-Ranchi Express
11 12873 Hatia-Anand Vihar (T) Express
12 12874 Anand Vihar (T)-Hatia Express
13 12877 Ranchi-New Delhi Garib Rath Express
14 12878 New Delhi-Ranchi Garib Rath Express
15 13303 Dhanbad -Ranchi Express
16 13304 Ranchi-Dhanbad Express
17 13319 Dumka-Ranchi Express
18 13320 Ranchi-Dumka Express
19 13351 Dhanbad -Alappuzha Express
20 13352 Alappuzha-Dhanbad Express
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§21 13403 Ranchi-Bhagalpur Express
22 13404 Bhagalpur-Ranchi Express
23 13425 Malda Town-Surat Express
24 13426 Surat-Malda Town Express
25 13503 Bardhaman-Hatia Express
26 13504 Hatia-Bardhaman Express
27 13513 Asansol-Hatia Express
28 13514 Hatia-Asansol Express
29 15027 Sambalpur-Gorakhpur Express
30 15028 Gorakhpur -Sambalpur Express
31 15661 Ranchi-Kamakhya Express
32 15662 Kamakhya-Ranchi Express
33 16619 Podanur -Dhanbad Amrit Bharat Express
34 16620 Dhanbad -Podanur Amrit Bharat Express
35 17005 Hyderabad-Raxaul Express
36 17006 Raxaul -Hyderabad Express
37 17007 Charlapalli-Darbhanga Express
38 17008 Darbhanga -Charlapalli Express
39 17321 Vasco Da Gama-Jasidih Express
40 17322 Jasidih-Vasco Da Gama Express
41 18035 Kharagpur -Hatia Express
42 18036 Hatia-Kharagpur Express
43 18085 Kharagpur -Ranchi Express
44 18086 Ranchi-Kharagpur Express
45 18105 Rourkela-Jaynagar Express
46 18106 Jaynagar-Rourkela Express
47 18309 Sambalpur-Jammutawi Express
48 18310 Jammutawi-Sambalpur Express
49 18523 Visakhapatnam-Banaras Express
50 18524 Banaras-Visakhapatnam Express
51 18601 Tatanagar -Hatia Express
52 18602 Hatia-Tatanagar Express
53 18603 Ranchi-Godda Express
54 18604 Godda-Ranchi Express
55 18609 Ranchi-Lokmanya Tilak (T) Express
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§56 18610 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Ranchi Express
57 18611 Ranchi-Banaras Express
58 18612 Banaras-Ranchi Express
59 18613 Ranchi-Chopan Express
60 18614 Chopan-Ranchi Express
61 18615 Howrah -Hatia Express
62 18616 Hatia-Howrah Express
63 18619 Ranchi-Godda Express
64 18620 Godda-Ranchi Express
65 18621 Patna -Hatia Express
66 18622 Hatia-Patna Express
67 18623 Islampur-Hatia Express
68 18624 Hatia-Islampur Express
69 18625 Purnia Court-Hatia Express
70 18626 Hatia-Purnia Court Express
71 18627 Howrah -Ranchi Express
72 18628 Ranchi-Howrah Express
73 18629 Ranchi-Gorakhpur Express
74 18630 Gorakhpur -Ranchi Express
75 18631 Ranchi-Chopan Express
76 18632 Chopan-Ranchi Express
77 18635 Ranchi-Sasaram Express
78 18636 Sasaram-Ranchi Express
79 18639 Ara-Ranchi Express
80 18640 Ranchi-Ara Express
81 20407 Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express
82 20408 New Delhi-Ranchi Rajdhani Express
83 20839 Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express
84 20840 New Delhi-Ranchi Rajdhani Express
85 22357 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Gaya Express
86 22358 Gaya - Lokmanya Tilak (T) Express
87 22891 Howrah -Ranchi Express
88 22892 Ranchi-Howrah Express
89 58033 Bokaro Steel City-Ranchi Passenger
90 58034 Ranchi-Bokaro Steel City Passenger
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§91 58663 Hatia-Shanki Passenger
92 58664 Shanki-Hatia Passenger
93 58665 Hatia-Shanki Passenger
94 58666 Shanki-Hatia Passenger
95 63597 Ranchi-Asansol MEMU
96 63598 Asansol-Ranchi MEMU
97 68017 Ranchi-Lohardaga MEMU
98 68018 Lohardaga-Ranchi MEMU
99 68027 Ranchi-Tori MEMU
100 68028 Tori-Ranchi MEMU
101 68035 Adityapur-Hatia MEMU
102 68036 Hatia-Adityapur MEMU
103 68037 Ranchi-Lohardaga MEMU
104 68038 Lohardaga-Ranchi MEMU
105 68039 Ranchi-Lohardaga MEMU
106 68040 Lohardaga-Ranchi MEMU
Affordability :
Railways are running different types of train services like suburban locals/ordinary, non-suburban
local/ordinary, Mail/Express, Superfast trains, Garib Rath, Gatimaan, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto,
Mahamana, Amrit Bharat, Vande Bharat, Vande Bharat Sleeper, Namo Bharat Rapid Rail, Humsafar,
Tejas, Special trains on special charges etc.
Railways always strive to provide affordable services to all strata of society. Accordingly, it operates
different categories of train services to cater to the travel needs of various categories of society which
include trains with lower fare to give benefit to underprivileged section of the society and also trains with
enhanced facilities.
Indian Railways gave subsidy of Rs.60,239 crore on passenger tickets in 2024-25. This amounts to
concession of 43% on an average, to every person, travelling on Railways. In other words, if the cost of
providing service is Rs.100, then the price of ticket is Rs.57 only. This subsidy is continuing for all
passengers. Further, concessions beyond this subsidy amount are continuing for many categories like 4
categories of persons with Disabililties (Divyangjans), 11 categories of patients and 8 categories of
students.
Further, Proposals/ requests/ suggestions/ representations, both formal and informal inter alia for
introduction/restoration of trains are received from Members of Parliament, elected representatives,
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§organizations/rail users etc. at various levels including Railway Board, Zonal Railways, Divisional
Office etc. As receipt of such proposals/ requests/ suggestions is a continuous and dynamic process,
centralized compendium of such requests is not maintained. However, these are examined and action as
found feasible and justified is taken from time to time, which is an on-going process.
Besides, introduction of train services including Vande Bharat trains on any route/section, which is an
on-going process, 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.
*****
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§