Parliament Question: Occupancy Rates of Vande Bharat Express Trains in West Bengal

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4076 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.08.2026 OCCUPANCY RATES OF VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS TRAINS IN WEST BENGAL 4076. SHRI JAGANNATH SARKAR: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the average occupancy rates of the following Vande Bharat Express trains operating in and through West Bengal during the last six months: (i) Howrah–New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat (ii) Howrah–Puri Vande Bharat (iii) Howrah–Ranchi Vande Bharat (iv) Howrah–Patna Vande Bharat (v) New Jalpaiguri–Guwahati Vande Bharat (vi) Howrah–Rourkela Vande Bharat (vii) Howrah–Bhagalpur Vande Bharat (viii) New Jalpaiguri-Patna Vande Bharat (ix) Howrah–Gaya Vande Bharat Express (x) Howrah–Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express (b) whether any of said trains have experienced occupancy rates below eighty percent (80%) during the last six months and if so, the details thereof; and (c) whether the Government proposes to introduce a second Vande Bharat Express on the Howrah–New Jalpaiguri route and Howrah-Puri route to cater to the high passenger demand and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) & (b): On Indian Railways, occupancy pattern of trains varies depending upon the season/period. Moreover, the overall occupancy of these Vande § Page 1 of 11Bharat Trains during the period 01.01.2026 to 30.06.2026 is more than 100%. Further, occupancy of none of the Vande Bharat Express trains operating in and through West Bengal is less than 80%. (c): Indian Railways, with a view to improve travel experience of the passengers, have introduced indigenously designed and manufactured Vande Bharat trains (Chair Car and Sleeper) with modern coaches, advanced safety features and passenger amenities. Vande Bharat services (Chair Car) Vande Bharat Chair Car services have the following features: ● 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. ● CCTVs in all Coaches. Page 2 of 11● For Divyangjan passengers special lavatory in the driving coaches on each end. ● Coach condition monitoring System (CCMS) display with remote monitoring. As on 05.08.2026, the 81 pairs of Vande Bharat train services (Chair Car) are being operated on the Indian Railways network, as listed below:- SN Train No. and Name 1 22435/22436 Varanasi - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express 2 22439/22440 New Delhi - Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express 3 20901/20902 Mumbai Central - Gandhinagar Capital Vande Bharat Express 4 22447/22448 New Delhi - Amb Andura Vande Bharat Express 5 20607/20608 MGR Chennai Central - Mysuru Vande Bharat Express 6 20825/20826 Bilaspur - Nagpur Vande Bharat Express 7 22301/22302 Howrah - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express 8 20833/20834 Visakhapatnam - Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express 9 22223/22224 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) - Sainagar Shirdi Vande Bharat Express 10 22225/22226 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) - Solapur Vande Bharat Express 11 20171/20172 Rani Kamlapati - Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express 12 20701/20702 Secunderabad - Tirupati Vande Bharat Express 13 20643/20644 Chennai - Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express Page 3 of 1114 20977/20978 Ajmer - Chandigarh Vande Bharat Express 15 20633/20634 Kasargod - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express 16 22895/22896 Howrah - Puri Vande Bharat Express 17 22457/22458 Anand Vihar - Dehradun Vande Bharat Express 18 22227/22228 New Jalpaiguri - Guwahati Vande Bharat Express 19 20911/20912 Indore - Nagpur Vande Bharat Express 20 22229/22230 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) - Madgaon Vande Bharat Express 21 22349/22350 Patna - Ranchi Vande Bharat Express 22 20661/20662 Bengaluru - Dharwar Vande Bharat Express 23 20173/20174 Rani Kamlapati - Rewa Vande Bharat Express 24 22549/22550 Gorakhpur - Prayagraj Vande Bharat Express 25 12461/12462 Jodhpur - Sabarmati Vande Bharat Express 26 22925/22926 Ahmedabad - Okha Vande Bharat Express 27 20665/20666 Chennai Egmore - Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Express 28 20677/20678 Chennai - Narsapur Vande Bharat Express 29 20703/20704 Kacheguda - Yesvantpur Vande Bharat Express 30 20631/20632 Mangaluru - Thiruvananthapuram Central Vande Bharat Express 31 26963/26964 Udaipur - Asarva Vande Bharat Express 32 22347/22348 Howrah - Patna Vande Bharat Express Page 4 of 1133 20835/20836 Rourkela - Puri Vande Bharat Express 34 20897/20898 Howrah - Ranchi Vande Bharat Express 35 22415/22416 Varanasi - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express 36 20641/20642 Bengaluru Cantt. - Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express 37 20645/20646 Madgaon - Mangaluru Vande Bharat Express 38 20705/20706 Nanded - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express 39 22477/22478 New Delhi - Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express 40 22425/22426 Ayodhya Cantt. - Anand Vihar Vande Bharat Express 41 22487/22488 Delhi - Amritsar Vande Bharat Express 42 22961/22962 Mumbai Central - Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express 43 20707/20708 Secunderabad - Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express 44 20663/20664 Mysuru - Chennai Vande Bharat Express 45 22233/22234 New Jalpaiguri - Patna Vande Bharat Express 46 22469/22470 Khajuraho - Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express 47 22231/22232 Kalaburagi - Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express 48 20841/20842 Bhubaneswar - Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express 49 22345/22346 Patna - Gomti Nagar Vande Bharat Express 50 20887/20888 Ranchi - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express 51 22545/22546 Lucknow - Dehradun Vande Bharat Express Page 5 of 1152 22489/22490 Varanasi - Meerut City Vande Bharat Express 53 20627/20628 Chennai Egmore - Nagercoil Vande Bharat Express 54 20671/20672 Madurai - Bengaluru Cantt. Vande Bharat Express 55 22499/22500 Deoghar - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express 56 22309/22310 Howrah - Jamalpur Vande Bharat Express 57 20871/20872 Howrah - Rourkela Vande Bharat Express 58 20893/20894 Tatanagar - Patna Vande Bharat Express 59 20891/20892 Tatanagar - Brahmapur Vande Bharat Express 60 22303/22304 Howrah - Gaya Vande Bharat Express 61 20669/20670 Hubballi - Pune Vande Bharat Express 62 20673/20674 Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (T) Kolhapur - Pune Vande Bharat Express 63 20101/20102 Secunderabad - Nagpur Vande Bharat Express 64 20829/20830 Durg - Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express 65 21893/21894 Tatanagar - Patna Vande Bharat Express 66 21895/21896 Tatanagar - Patna Vande Bharat Express 67 20175/20176 Banaras - Agra Cantt. Vande Bharat Express 68 26901/26902 Sabarmati - Veraval Vande Bharat Express 69 26401/26402 Jammu Tawi - Srinagar Vande Bharat Express 70 26403/26404 Jammu Tawi - Srinagar Vande Bharat Express 71 26501/26502 Patliputra - Gorakhpur Vande Bharat Express 72 26751/26752 Belagavi - KSR Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express Page 6 of 1173 26405/26406 Amritsar - Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express 74 26101/26102 Pune - Ajni Vande Bharat Express 75 26301/26302 Jogbani - Danapur Vande Bharat Express 76 26481/26482 Jodhpur - Delhi Cantt. Vande Bharat Express 77 26471/26472 Bikaner - Delhi Cantt. Vande Bharat Express 78 26461/26462 Delhi - Firozpur Cantt. Vande Bharat Express 79 26651/26652 KSR Bengaluru - Ernakulam Vande Bharat Express 80 26505/26506 Khajuraho - Banaras Vande Bharat Express 81 26503/26504 Saharanpur - Gomtinagar Vande Bharat Express Vande Bharat Services (Sleeper Trains): For long distance travel the Sleeper variant of Vande Bharat Express has been indigenously designed and developed. These are aimed to improve travel experience of the passengers and set new benchmarks in terms of safe and comfortable journey. Two such trains have already been manufactured. After extensive trials, these trains have been introduced on Indian Railways. The First Vande Bharat Sleeper service viz. 27575/27576 Howrah - Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express has commenced regular operation w.e.f. 22.01.2026. 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. Page 7 of 11● 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 05.08.2026, the following 01 pairs of Vande Bharat train services (Sleeper Car) are being operated on the Indian Railways network: SN Train No. and Name Page 8 of 111 27575/27576 Howrah - Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express Trains on Howrah-New Jalpaiguri sector: At present, Howrah-New Jalpaiguri sector is served by 20 pairs of trains including 22301/22302 Howrah - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express & 27575/27576 Howrah-Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express. These are listed below: - SN Train No. & Name 1 22301/22302 Howrah - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express 27575/27576 Howrah - Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper 2 Express 3 12041/12042 Howrah - New Jalpaiguri Shatabdi Express 4 12343/12344 Sealdah - Haldibari Express 5 12345/12346 Howrah - Guwahati Express 6 12363/12364 Kolkata - Haldibari Express 7 12377/12378 Sealdah - New Alipurduar Express 8 12501/12502 Kolkata - Agartala Garib Rath Express 9 12517/12518 Kolkata - Guwahati Garib Rath Express 10 13115/13116 Sealdah - Jalpaiguri Road Express 11 13125/13126 Kolkata - Sairang Express 12 13141/13142 Sealdah - New Alipurduar Express 13 13147/13148 Sealdah - Bamanhat Express Page 9 of 1114 13173/13174 Sealdah - Sabroom Express 15 13175/13176 Sealdah - Silchar Express 16 13181/13182 Kolkata - Sighat Town Express 17 15643/15644 Puri - Kamakhya Express 18 15721/15722 Digha - New Jalpaiguri Express 19 15959/15960 Howrah - Dibrugarh Express 20 15961/15962 Howrah - Dibrugarh Express Trains on Howrah-Puri sector Similarly, Howrah-Puri sector is served by 12 pairs of trains including 22895/22896 Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express. These are listed below: - SN Train No. & Name 1 22895/22896 Howrah - Puri Vande Bharat Express 2 12277/12278 Howrah - Puri Shatabdi Express 3 12821/12822 Howrah - Puri Express 4 12837/12838 Howrah - Puri Express 5 12881/12882 Shalimar - Puri Garib Rath Express 6 12887/12888 Shalimar - Puri Express 7 12895/12896 Shalimar - Puri Express 8 15643/15644 Kamakhya - Puri Express 9 18039/18040 Shalimar - Puri Express 10 18409/18410 Shalimar - Puri Express Page 10 of 1111 22201/22202 Sealdah - Puri Duronto Express 12 22835/22836 Shalimar - Puri Express Besides, introduction of train services, including Vande Bharat (Chair Car & Sleeper) 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 11 of 11