 "Chennai: A tangerine-themed Vande Bharat Express train before its trial run. (PTI Photo)")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to flag-off nine Vande Bharat Express trains virtually on September 24, 2023. Currently, the semi-high speed trains run on 25 routes and with the inclusion of nine more trains, the total number of trains will reach 34.
According to reports, the semi-high-speed trains have eight coaches each and these trains will start operating from Sunday, on routes: Ranchi-Howrah, Tirunelveli-Chennai, Patna-Howrah, Rourkela-Puri, Udaipur-Jaipur, Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram, Jamnagar-Ahmedabad, Vijayawada-Chennai and Hyderabad-Bengaluru.
No Vande Bharat train has been inaugurated in the last two months, the last Vande Bharat train was flagged off in July 2023. Madhya Pradesh and poll-bound Rajasthan will get the most trains, and South India is expected to get two trains, which include the new orange-grey Vande Bharat Express.
Vande Bharat Express: Saffron Paint
The new Vande Bharat trains will come in a new look of orange-dark grey paint, unlike the other Vande Bharat Express trains that came in a white-blue variation. Railway Minister Ashwini Vishnaw said the saffron colour was inspired by the 'Tricolour.'
9 Vande Bharat Express: Tentative Route
Here are the tentative routes of nine new Vande Bharat Express:
Route 1: Indore - Jaipur Vande Bharat Express
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Route 2: Jaipur-Udaipur Vande Bharat Express
Route 3: Puri - Rourkela Vande Bharat Express
Route 4: Patna-Howrah Vande Bharat Express
Route 5: Jaipur-Chandigarh Vande Bharat Express
Route 6: Jaipur-Chandigarh Vande Bharat Express
Route 7: Kasaragod - Trivandrum Vande Bharat Express
Route 8: Hyderabad - Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express
Route 9: Jamnagar - Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express
Vande Bharat Express routes in India
Currently, 25 Vande Bharat Express are operating across India and covering 50 routes (25 each up and down). Four of these trains are in the Northern Zone, three are in Southern and Central Zones, and two are in Western, West Central and North Western Railway Zones. South East Central, East Central, South Eastern, East Coast, South Central, Eastern, South Western and North Eastern Railway, Northeast Frontier have one train each.
Central Railway press release
According to the press release by Central Railway, the total number of passengers travelling in Vande Bharat trains in the central railway region from August 15 to September 8 was 1.22 lakh. The revenue earned through these services in the same time period is Rs 10.72 crores. The highest occupancy during the period was in Bilaspur-Nagpur Express, i.e., 122.56 per cent, while the lowest was in Madgaon-CSMT Express, i.e., 75.50 per cent.
