Parliament Question: High-Speed Rail and Vande Bharat Network

O.I.H GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 900 ANSWERED ON 06.02.2026 HIGH-SPEED RAIL AND VANDE BHARAT NETWORK 900# SHRI BABURAM NISHAD: SHRI UJJWAL DEORAO NIKAM: SHRI AMAR PAL MAURYA: DR. MEDHA VISHRAM KULKARNI: SHRI BABUBHAI JESANGBHAI DESAI: SHRI SHAMBHU SHARAN PATEL: DR. DINESH SHARMA: SMT. KIRAN CHOUDHRY: SHRI BRIJ LAL: SHRI KESRIDEVSINH JHALA: SHRI DEEPAK PRAKASH: SMT. RAMILABEN BECHARBHAI BARA: SHRI NARAYANA KORAGAPPA: SHRI NARHARI AMIN: SHRI LAHAR SINGH SIROYA: DR. PARMAR JASHVANTSINH SALAMSINH: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the current status of the number of Vande Bharat Sleeper train rakes planned and under production; (b) the details of timelines for their manufacture and induction into regular service; (c) the comparative features of Vande Bharat Sleeper Trains over conventional overnight trains including speed, onboard amenities, safety features and passenger comfort, with reference to the design and performance specifications; (d) the projected manufacturing and network expansion plan for Vande Bharat Sleeper rakes especially in the State of Maharashtra; and (e) whether there is any plan to operate the New Delhi-Jharkhand Rajdhani Express on a daily basis? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e) For long distance travel, Indian Railways has introduced the sleeper variant of Vande Bharat express which has been indigenously designed and developed. Two such trains have already been manufactured. After extensive trials these are presently operational between Howrah and Kamakhya. A total of 260 Vande Bharat Sleeper trainsets are planned to be manufactured. ..P/2-:2:- 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. Induction of these trainsets into regular passenger service will be undertaken in a phased manner based on demand and operational readiness. 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. • Improved fire safety – 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 the Railway network straddles across state boundaries, trains are introduced, as per network requirement, across such boundaries. Presently, on originating/terminating basis, 24 Vande Bharat ..P/3-:3:- Chair Car train services are catering to the needs of various stations located in the State of Maharashtra. These services are as listed under:- SN Train no. and name 1 26101/26102 Pune-Ajni Vande Bharat Express 2 20101/20102 Nagpur-Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express 3 20669/20670 Hubballi - Pune Vande Bharat Express 4 20673/20674 SCSM(T) Kolhapur - Pune Vande Bharat Express 5 22961/22962 Mumbai Central- Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express 6 20705/20706 H. S. Nanded - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj(T) Vande Bharat Express 7 22229/22230 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj(T) - Madgaon Vande Bharat Express 8 20911/20912 Indore - Nagpur Vande Bharat Express 22223/22224 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj(T) - Sainagar Shirdi Vande Bharat 9 Express 10 22225/22226 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj(T) - Solapur Vande Bharat Express 11 20825/20826 Bilaspur - Nagpur Vande Bharat Express 12 20901/20902 Mumbai Central - Gandhinagar Capital Vande Bharat Express Presently, Ranchi is directly connected to Delhi area by 08 pairs of train services, including 03 pairs of Rajdhani services, as listed under: SN Train number and name 1 18309/18310 Sambalpur - Jammu Tawi Express 2 12825/12826 Ranchi - Anand Vihar Terminal Express 3 12873/12874 Hatia - Anand Vihar Terminal Express ..P/4-:4:- 4 12817/12818 Hatia - Anand Vihar Terminal Express 5 12877/12878 Ranchi - New Delhi Garibrath Express 6 20839/20840 Ranchi - New Delhi Rajdhani Express 7 20407/20408 Ranchi - New Delhi Rajdhani Express 8 12453/12454 Ranchi - New Delhi Rajdhani Express Introduction of new train services including Vande Bharat sleeper services/ increase in frequency of services is an on-going process which depends on various factors that 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. *****