 "Vande Bharat trains register 99% utilisation during FY24 up to June 2023")
Overall utilisation of Vande Bharat trains has been 99.6 per cent during the ongoing financial year 2023-24 up to June 2023, the Ministry of Railways has informed on Wednesday, July 26.
This information was given by the railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
To ensure maximum utilisation, zonal railways have been authorised to introduce up to 25 per cent discount on the basic fare in AC chair car and Executive class. This allows zonal railways to offer competitive fares over certain segments after analysing the travel trends for all competitive modes in the region and also estimating the future occupancy potential, the reply said.
The government is taking these steps to reduce the operational costs of running Vande Bharat trains.
As of July 21, 2023, the Indian Railways have introduced 50 Vande Bharat Express trains on its network. These trains can operate at higher speeds than regular trains.
Vande Bharat trains are semi-high-speed trains that have been locally developed and attain speeds up to 180 kmph. However, their speeds have been capped at 130 kmph due to the non-availability of tracks suitable to sustain such high speeds.
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The government is undertaking 251 railway infrastructure projects, including 76 new lines, 19 gauge conversions, and 156 doublings. This will cover 29,417 km of the railways' network and cost the government Rs 4.92 trillion.
Additionally, Vande Bharat trains made news for stone-pelting on its coaches. This caused financial damage to the Indian railways amounting to Rs 55 lakh, the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said.
In his reply to a query raised in Lok Sabha, the minister said that taking action against such incidents, 151 persons involved in stone pelting have been arrested.