Parliament Question: Vande Bharat/High Speed Trains across Country

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 667 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2026 VANDE BHARAT/HIGH SPEED TRAINS ACROSS COUNTRY †667. SHRI BHUMARE SANDIPANRAO ASARAM:

SHRI GYANESHWAR PATIL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the status of Vande Bharat Express and high-speed train projects across the country and the proposed routes and timelines for the expansion of these services particularly in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh;

(b) whether the Government proposes to introduce Vande Bharat Express or other high-speed trains connecting major cities of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh;

(c) if so, the proposed routes and the time by which the said routes are likely to be operational; and

(d) the details of the measures are being taken by the Government to ensure the safety, affordability, and accessibility of these high-speed train services for rural and economically backward communities in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (d) As the railway network straddles across State boundaries, trains are introduced across such boundaries as per network requirement.

However, with a view to improve travel experience of the passengers, Indian Railways have introduced indigenously designed and manufactured Vande Bharat (Sleeper & Chair Car) with modern coaches, advanced safety features and passenger amenities.

§ Page 1 of 13Vande Bharat services (Chair Car) Presently, 81 Pairs of Vande Bharat Express Chair Car services are operational on the Indian Railways network which 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.  For Divyangjan passengers special lavatory in the driving coaches on each end.  Coach condition monitoring System (CCMS) display with remote monitoring The list of 81 Pairs of Vande Bharat trains (Chair Car) being operated on the Indian Railways network, as on 18.07.2026, is as under:- SN Train No. and Name 1 22435/22436 Varanasi - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express Page 2 of 132 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 14 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 Page 3 of 1323 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 33 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 Page 4 of 1345 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 Jn - Dehradun Vande Bharat Express 52 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 Page 5 of 1368 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 73 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 Of these 81 pairs of Vande Bharat Express Chair Car services, 12 pairs of Vande Bharat Express Chair Car services are catering to the needs of various stations located in the State of Maharashtra while 05 pairs of Vande Bharat Express Chair Car services are catering to the needs of various stations located in the State of Madhya Pradesh. These are listed

below:

Vande Bharat serving Maharashtra:

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 Page 6 of 134 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 9 22223/22224 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj(T)-Sainagar Shirdi Vande Bharat 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

Vande Bharat serving Madhya Pradesh:

SN Train no. and name 1 20171/20172 Rani Kamlapati-Hazrat Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express 2 20173/20174 Rani Kamlapati-Rewa Vande Bharat Express 3 20911/20912 Indore-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express 4 22469/22470 Khajuraho-Hazrat Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express 5 26505/26506 Khajuraho-Banaras Vande Bharat Express

Vande Bharat Sleeper Train services:

For long distance travel the Sleeper variant of Vande Bharat Express has been indigenously designed and developed. 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.

Page 7 of 1327575/27576 Howrah- Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express has commenced regular operation w.e.f. 22.01.2026.

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.  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.

Page 8 of 13 Ergonomically designed ladder for ease of climbing on to upper berths.

Besides, introduction of train services including Vande Bharat Express 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

High Speed Rail Project:

Presently, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project (508 km) is under execution. The Project is passing through the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli with 12 stations planned at Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.

Entire land (1389.5 Ha.) for MAHSR project has been acquired. All Statutory Clearances have been obtained. All 1651 utilities have been shifted. The delay in land acquisition in the State of Maharashtra has impacted the project till 2021. The land acquisition picked up in 2022 in Maharashtra.

The progress of various major items so far is as under:

Item Progress Piers 452 kms.

Girder 356 kms.

Track Bed 209 kms.

OHE Masts 190 kms.

Page 9 of 13The progress of stations is given below:- SN Station Status 1 Sabarmati Foundation works completed, Platform slab & roof structural works and finishing works are in progress 2 Ahmedabad Structural works completed and finishing works 3 Anand/Nadiad have been taken up.

4 Vadodara Foundation work completed, structural works and finishing works have been taken up.

5 Bharuch Structural works completed and finishing works 6 Surat have been taken up.

7 Bilimora 8 Vapi 9 Boisar Foundation works have been taken up and in 10 Virar advanced stage. Structural works have been taken up.

11 Thane 12 BKC (Mumbai) This is an underground station. Foundation works almost completed and Base Slab has been taken up.

The progress on the River Bridges is as under:- SN River Name Status Sabarmati River (480m) Sub-Structure work completed, 1 Superstructure work has been taken up.

Meshwa River (120m) Bridge construction completed.

2 Vatrak River (280m) 3 Mohar (Shedhi) River 4

(160m) Mahi River (720m) 11 out of 12 wells completed;5 spans 5 launched Vishwamitri River Bridge construction completed.

6

(80m) Dhadhar River (120m) 7 Narmada River (1366m) 21 out of 25 wells completed; 4 spans 8 launched Page 10 of 13Kim River (120m) Bridge construction completed.

9 Tapi River (720m) Foundation work has been taken up, 10 10 out of 12 wells completed Mindhola River (240m) Bridge construction completed.

11 Purna River (360m) 12 Ambika River (200m) 13 Venganiya River 14

(200m) Kaveri River (120m) 15 Kharera River (120m) 16 Auranga River (320m) 17 Par River (320m) 18 Kolak River (160m) 19 Daman Ganga River 20

(360m) Darotha River (80m) 21 22 Jagani River (360m) Foundation works have been completed 23 Vaitarna River 12 Pile Cap and 11 Pier (out of 58)

(2320m) completed.

24 Ulhas River Branch Temporary Access Bridge (TAB) completed

(120m) to start the foundation work.

25 Desai Khadi River Geo-technical Investigation (GTI) has been Bridge (400m) completed and Design work has been taken up.

The work of the under-sea tunnel (approximately 21 km) has commenced, out of which 4.8 km of tunnel between Ghansoli and Shilphata in Maharashtra has been completed.

Page 11 of 13On the Surat–Vapi section (97 km) entire civil works including river bridge construction, have been completed and 86% of the track bed has been laid.

Further, to strengthen national transport infrastructure, provide a fillip to regional connectivity, economic growth, tourism, investment and employment generation, and encourage modal shift from road and air transport to rail, the Government has announced the development of the following seven new High-Speed Rail (HSR) corridors in the Union Budget 2026-27: -

(i) Mumbai–Pune

(ii) Pune–Hyderabad

(iii) Hyderabad–Bengaluru

(iv) Hyderabad–Chennai

(v) Chennai–Bengaluru

(vi) Delhi–Varanasi

(vii) Varanasi–Siliguri Being highly capital intensive, the decision to sanction any HSR Corridor/ Project depends on many factors such as outcome of DPR, techno- economic feasibility studies and availability of resources such as financing options etc.

However, Bullet train project is a very complex and technology intensive Project. Exact timelines for the completion of the entire project can be reasonably ascertained after the completion of all associated works of Civil Structures, Track, Electrical, Signaling & Telecommunication and supply of Trainsets.

Affordability and accessibility of services:

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 Page 12 of 13Bharat, 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 Disabilities (Divyangjans), 11 categories of patients and 8 categories of students.

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