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New Delhi: Vande Bharat trains are the latest addition to the growing fleet of trains in the country. This is a semi high-speed train developed by the Indian Railways for faster and comfortable travel across the country. These trains were developed to complement the aging fleet of Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains in the country. The trains show India's growing infrastructure development potential and also are a symbol of modernity.
These trains are kind of a competition to the Western railway networks of the world. Some of the country's boast of several high-speed trains and India's Vande Bharat trains are now here to give them competition.
The first Vande Bharat train was launched in February 2019. The train ran between New Delhi to Varanasi. A total of 137 Vande Bharat trains are part of the Railway Network as of March 2025. The latest addition to the fleet is the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat, which started operations in February 2025. The Union government gives a special focus to the Vande Bharat trains in the country. In the Budget presented in 2022, the government had announced that a total of 400 Vande Bharat trains will be introduced in the next 3 years.
The latest addition to the Vande Bharat fleet of the country is the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat. This train passes over the Chenab Bridge, which is the world's highest rail bridge. As of January 2025, there were 66 operational Vande Bharat trains in India. Of these 15 trains have 16 coaches, 8 trains had 20 coaches and the other 43 trains had 8 coaches.
Most of the important cities of the country are now connected with a Vande Bharat train. While Mumbai has the Vande Bharat train running between Mumbai CSMT to Solapur, Delhi has a Vande Bharat train running between New Delhi to Varanasi. There is another one which runs between New Delhi to Mata Vaishno Devi Katra in Jammu. Another Vande Bharat train connects Mumbai to Gujarat's Gandhinagar.
The Vande Bharat trains are the best example of ‘Make in India' campaign of the Union government. The trains are semi indigenously built and offer world class travel facilities to the passengers. The trains are often pushed as an example of the success of the 'Make in India' story of the government.
The Vande Bharat trains can run at a speed of 160 kmph and according to the government, this speed, along with safety and service are the hallmarks of the train. The train designs are completely in-house and the company where manufacturing of the Vande Bharat train coaches takes place is Integral Coach Factory (ICF),located in Chennai.
Here are some features of the Vande Bharat trains
1. Reclining seats in all Vande Bharat trains and rotating seats in the executive class of the trains
2. CCTV in all coaches and mobile charging sockets for every seat
3. Automatic plug doors in the train coaches
4. Pantry car which is equipped with hot case, a water cooler, deep freezer and a hot water boiler
5. Emergency windows and a fire extinguisher are provided in all coaches
6. Emergency alarm buttons and talk back units in all coaches of the train
7. Driver-guard communication is made easier in the trains
8. Coach Condition Monitoring System display with remote monitoring are provided in all Vande Bharat trains
The ticket prices of the Vande Bharat trains vary between Rs 900 to Rs 4000 on an average. The ticket prices in this train, much like other trains, depend upon the distance covered by the train.
While one can get a ticket of Rs 890 in the Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat train, the cost to travel in the Ajmer-Delhi Vande Bharat train can be between Rs 1085 to Rs 2,275. If one is travelling in the Hazrat Nizamuddin - Rani Kamlapati Vande Bharat train, running from Bhopal to Delhi, one needs to shell out close to Rs 3000 for the premium train journey.
