Parliament Question: New Delhi-Ahmedabad Rajdhani Express

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1690 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.07.2026 NEW DELHI-AHMEDABAD RAJDHANI EXPRESS

1690. SHRI PARSHOTTAMBHAI RUPALA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has examined the representation seeking extension of the New Delhi–Ahmedabad Rajdhani Express up to Rajkot and if so, the action taken thereon;

(b) whether the Government proposes to introduce Vande Bharat Sleeper or any other premium sleeper train service connecting Rajkot with Mumbai and New Delhi and if so, the details including the proposed timeline;

and

(c) the details of the criteria adopted by the Government for sanctioning new train services, including extension of existing trains for the Saurashtra region and the steps taken to improve premium rail connectivity for Rajkot? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c) Train no. 12957/12958 Sabarmati - New Delhi Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani Express which is providing connectivity between the National Capital and the Capital of State of Gujarat, is already having an occupancy of around 120%.

Further, proposals/requests/suggestions/representations, both formal and informal inter alia for introduction of new trains/extension of train services are received from Members of Parliament, elected representatives, organizations/rail users etc. at various levels including Railway Board, Zonal Railways, Divisional Office etc. The receipt of such § Page 1 of 4proposals/requests/suggestions is a continuous and dynamic process.

These are examined and action as found feasible and justified is taken from time to time, which is an on-going process.

At present, Sabarmati/Ahmedabad-Rajkot sector is served by the following 39 pairs of trains, including 02 pairs of Vande Bharat trains and 01 pairs of Duronto trains.

SN Train No. and Name 1 26901/26902 Sabarmati-Veraval Vande Bharat Express 2 22925/22926 Ahmedabad-Okha Vande Bharat Express 3 12267/12268 Mumbai Central-Hapa Duronto Express 4 11463/11464 Veraval-Jabalpur Express 5 11465/11466 Veraval-Jabalpur Express 6 1108711088 Veraval-Pune Express 7 12475/12476 Hapa-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express 8 12477/12478 Jamnagar-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express 9 12905/12906 Porbandar-Shalimar Express 10 12949/12950 Porbandar-Santragachi Express 11 15045/15046 Gorakhpur-Okha Express 12 15635/15636 Okha-Guwahati Express 13 16333/16334 Veraval-Thiruvananthapuram Central Express 14 16337/16338 Okha-Ernakulam Express 15 16613/16614 Rajkot-Coimbatore Express 16 16733/16734 Rameswaram-Okha Express 17 19015/19016 Dadar-Porbandar Express 18 19119/19120 Gandhinagar Capital-Veraval Express 19 19217/19218 Bandra(T)-Veraval Express 20 19269/19270 Porbandar-Muzaffarpur Express 21 19319/19320 Veraval-Indore Express 22 19559/19560 Tirupati-Okha Express Page 2 of 423 19567/19568 Tuticorin-Okha Express 24 19575/19576 Okha-Nathdwara Express 25 19577/19578 Tirunelveli-Jamnagar Express 26 20819/20820 Puri-Okha Express 27 20909/20910 Thiruvananthapuram North-Porbandar Express 28 20937/20938 Porbandar-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express 29 20967/20968 Secunderabad-Porbandar Express 30 22717/22718 Rajkot-Secunderabad Express 31 22905/22906 Okha-Shalimar Express 32 22907/22908 Madgaon-Hapa Express 33 22923/22924 Bandra(T)-Jamnagar Express 34 22937/22938 Rajkot-Rewa Express 35 22939/22940 Okha-Bilaspur Express 36 22945/22946 Mumbai Central-Okha Express 37 22957/22958 Gandhinagar Capital-Veraval Express 38 22959/22960 Vadodara-Jamnagar Express 39 22969/22970 Okha-Banaras Express Further, at present, Rajkot is directly connected to the Delhi area by 6 pairs of train services. Similarly, Rajkot is connected to the Mumbai area by 15 pairs of train services. The list of trains serving these sectors is as under:

Trains serving Rajkot-Delhi sector:

SN Train No. and Name 1 12475/12476 Hapa-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express 2 12477/12478 Jamnagar-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express 3 19269/19270 Porbandar-Muzaffarpur Express 4 19565/19566 Okha-Dehradoon Express 5 20913/20914 Rajkot-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express 6 20937/20938 Porbandar-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express Page 3 of 4Trains serving Rajkot-Mumbai sector:

SN Train No. and Name 1 11087/11088 Veraval-Pune Express 2 12267/12268 Mumbai Central-Hapa Duronto Express 3 16333/16334 Veraval-Thiruvananthapuram Central Express 4 16337/16338 Okha-Ernakulam Express 5 16613/16614 Rajkot-Coimbatore Express 6 19015/19016 Dadar-Porbandar Express 7 19217/19218 Bandra (T)-Veraval Express 8 19567/19568 Tuticorin-Okha Express 9 19577/19578 Tirunelveli-Jamnagar Express 10 20909/20910 Thiruvananthapuram North-Porbandar Express 11 20967/20968 Secunderabad-Porbandar Express 12 22717/22718 Rajkot-Secunderabad Express 13 22907/22908 Madgaon-Hapa Express 14 22923/22924 Bandra (T)-Jamnagar Express 15 22945/22946 Mumbai Central-Okha Express Besides, introduction/extension of train services 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 ● Occupancy and the traffic requirement of the section ***** Page 4 of 4