Parliament Question: Fare Structure and Affordability of Vande Bharat Sleeper Trains

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3057 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026 FARE STRUCTURE AND AFFORDABILITY OF VANDE BHARAT SLEEPER TRAINS 3057. SHRI ABHISHEK BANERJEE: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the fare structure notified for the Vande Bharat Sleeper trains including fares applicable on the Howrah–Guwahati, Howrah–New Jalpaiguri and Howrah–Malda Town routes, route and class-wise; (b) the details of the comparative fare difference between Vande Bharat Sleeper services and existing express or mail trains operating on the same routes and distance slabs, class-wise; (c) whether any assessment has been undertaken to evaluate the affordability of the notified fares for middle-income and lower-middle- income passengers particularly in eastern and northeastern regions and if so, the details thereof; (d) whether income levels, travel demand, and availability of alternative rail services are considered while fixing fares for premium trains and if so, the details thereof; and (e) the details of the rationale for limiting confirmed-ticket-only travel on Vande Bharat Sleeper trains without provision for Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) and its likely impact on passenger accessibility? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e) Indian Railways (IR) caters to various segments of the travelling public and, accordingly, operates different types of train services like Suburban/Non-suburban ordinary train services, Mail/Express, Amrit Bharat, §Vande Bharat, Vande Bharat Sleeper, Namo Bharat Rapid Rail, Tejas, Humsafar, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto and Garib Rath services etc. Ministry of Railways while deciding the fare structure of various types of passenger services gives due consideration to aspects like the cost of service, value of service, type of services/facilities offered, affordability, competition from other competing modes and socio-economic considerations etc. The first Vande Bharat Sleeper service viz. 27575/27576 Howrah- Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express has been introduced w.e.f. 22.01.2026. The proliferation of new train services, including Vande Bharat sleeper services, 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.  Occupancy and the traffic requirement of the section To improve travel experience of the passengers, Vande Bharat Sleeper have been provided with modern coaches having advanced safety features and passenger amenities like Jerk-Free semi permanent couplers, KAVACH, higher acceleration, improved fire safety standards, sealed gangways, CCTVs in all coaches, emergency talk-back unit centralized coach monitoring system, etc. The fare structure of Vande Bharat Sleeper train are based on per passenger- per kilometer rate, i.e for 3rd Air-conditioned Class (3AC) is ₹2.40 excluding GST. The indicative fares for a distance of 1000 km excluding GST are ₹2400 for 3 AC.Vande Bharat Sleeper train is a different category of passenger service with an all inclusive fare and this train has no provision of RAC tickets. Passengers in waiting list get confirmation when confirmed passengers cancel tickets. Therefore services are accessible to passengers. 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. The fares of Indian Railways are among the lowest in comparison to other countries in the world. The fare of Vande Bharat Sleeper ranges between ₹2.40 to ₹3.80 per PKM which is much lower than the fares of similar segment of services in countries like China, Japan and France, where it ranges from ₹7.00 to ₹20.00 per PKM. 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 Disabilities (Divyangjans), 11 categories of patients and 8 categories of students. *****