Ministry of Railways
azadi ka amrit mahotsav

Amid High-occupancy & Popularity of Vande Bharat Chair Car Services, Centre seeks State Support in its Expansion


Indian Railways Takes Proactive Steps for Common Man: Affordable, Comfortable Vande Bharat Travel Boosting Convenience for Middle Class Passengers

Equipped with Semi-Permanent Couplers, Anti-Climbing Features and AI-Enabled Systems, Vande Bharat Trains Significantly Enhance Passenger Safety Across the Country: Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw

Posted On: 18 MAR 2026 6:29PM by PIB Delhi

Indian Railways (IR) is focussed on providing affordable, good quality services to all sections of society. With a view to improve travel experience of the passengers, Indian Railways have introduced indigenously designed and manufactured Vande Bharat (Sleeper & Chair Car) Express services with modern coaches, advanced safety features and passenger amenities.

Vande Bharat services [Chair Car]:

Indian Railways, with a view to improve travel experience of the passengers, have introduced indigenously designed and manufactured Vande Bharat trains with modern coaches, advanced safety features and passenger amenities. These Vande Bharat Chair Car Trains  have 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

 


As on 12.03.2026, the following 162 Vande Bharat train services (Chair Car) are being operated on the Indian Railways network, as under:-

SN

Train No. and Name

1

22435/22436 New Delhi - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express

2

22439/22440 Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express

3

20901/20902 Gandhinagar Capital - Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express

4

22447/22448 Amb Andura - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express

5

20607/20608 Mysuru - MGR Chennai Central Vande Bharat Express

6

20825/20826 Nagpur - Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express

7

22301/22302 New Jalpaiguri - Howrah Vande Bharat Express

8

20833/20834 Secunderabad - Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express

9

22223/22224 Sainagar Shirdi - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express

10

22225/22226 Solapur - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express

11

20171/20172 Nizamuddin - Rani Kamlapati Vande Bharat Express

12

20701/20702 Tirupati - Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express

13

20643/20644 Coimbatore - Chennai Vande Bharat Express

14

20977/20978 Chandigarh - Ajmer Vande Bharat Express

15

20633/20634 Thiruvananthapuram- Kasargod Vande Bharat Express

16

22895/22896 Puri - Howrah Vande Bharat Express

17

22457/22458 Dehradun - Anand Vihar Vande Bharat Express

18

22227/22228 Guwahati - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express

19

20911/20912 Nagpur - Indore Vande Bharat Express

20

22229/22230 Madgaon - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express

21

22349/22350 Ranchi - Patna Vande Bharat Express

22

20661/20662 Dharwar - Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express

23

20173/20174 Rewa -  Rani Kamlapati Vande Bharat Express

24

22549/22550 Gorakhpur - Prayagraj Vande Bharat Express

25

12461/12462 Sabarmati - Jodhpur Vande Bharat Express

26

22925/22926 Okha  -  Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express

27

20665/20666 Tirunelveli - Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat Express

28

20677/20678 Narsapur - Chennai Vande Bharat Express

29

20703/20704 Yesvantpur  - Kacheguda Vande Bharat Express

30

20631/20632 Thiruvananthapuram- Mangaluru Vande Bharat Express

31

26963/26964 Udaipur - Asarva Vande Bharat Express

32

22347/22348 Patna - Howrah Vande Bharat Express

33

20835/20836 Puri -  Rourkela Vande Bharat Express

34

20897/20898 Ranchi - Howrah Vande Bharat Express

35

22415/22416 New Delhi  - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express

36

20641/20642 Coimbatore - Bengaluru Cant Vande Bharat Express

37

20645/20646 Mangaluru - Madgaon Vande Bharat Express

38

20705/20706 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) - Nanded Vande Bharat Express

39

22477/22478 Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express

40

22425/22426 Anand Vihar - Ayodhya Cantt. Vande Bharat Express

41

22487/22488 Amritsar - Delhi Vande Bharat Express

42

22962/22961 Mumbai Central - Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express

43

20707/20708 Visakhapatnam - Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express

44

20663/20664 Chennai - Mysuru Vande Bharat Express

45

22233/22234 Patna - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express

46

22470/22469 Khajuraho - Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express

47

22231/22232 Bengaluru - Kalburagi Vande Bharat Express

48

20841/20842 Visakhapatnam - Bhubaneswar Vande Bharat Express

49

22345/22346 Gomti Nagar - Patna Vande Bharat Express

50

20887/20888 Varanasi - Ranchi Vande Bharat Express

51

22545/22546 Dehradun - Lucknow Jn Vande Bharat Express

52

22490/22489 Varanasi - Meerut City Vande Bharat Express

53

20627/20628 Nagercoil - Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat Express

54

20671/20672 Bengaluru Cantt - Madurai Vande Bharat Express

55

22500/22499 Deoghar - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express

56

22309/22310 Jamalpur - Howrah Vande Bharat Express

57

20871/20872 Rourkela - Howrah Vande Bharat Express

58

20893/20894 Patna - Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express

59

20892/20891 Tatanagar - Brahmapur Vande Bharat Express

60

22303/22304 Gaya - Howrah Vande Bharat Express

61

20669/20670 Pune - Hubballi Vande Bharat Express

62

20673/20674 Pune - Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express

63

20101/20102 Secunderabad - Nagpur Vande Bharat Express

64

20829/20830 Visakhapatnam - Durg Vande Bharat Express

65

21893/21894 Patna - Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express

66

21895/21896 Patna - Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express

67

20176/20175 Banaras - Agra Cantt. Vande Bharat Express

68

26901/26902 Veraval  -  Sabarmati Vande Bharat Express

69

26401/26402 Srinagar - Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express

70

26403/26404 Srinagar -Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express

71

26502/26501 Patliputra  -  Gorakhpur Vande Bharat Express

72

26751/26752 KSR Bengaluru  -  Belagavi Vande Bharat Express

73

26406/26405 Amritsar - Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express

74

26101/26102 Pune  -  Ajni Vande Bharat Express

75

26302/26301 Jogbani  -  Danapur Vande Bharat Express

76

26481/26482 Delhi Cantt - Jodhpur Vande Bharat Express

77

26471/26472 Delhi Cantt - Bikaner Vande Bharat Express

78

26462/26461 Delhi  -  Firozpur Cantt. Vande Bharat Express

79

26651/26652 Ernakulam  -  KSR Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express

80

26506/26505 Khajuraho  -  Banaras Vande Bharat Express

81

26504/26503 Saharanpur  -  Gomtinagar Vande Bharat Express

 

    Vande Bharat services [Sleeper]:

     For long distance travel the Sleeper variant of Vande Bharat Express has been indigenously designed and developed. Two such trains have already been m anufactured. 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.

The process of development of new rolling stocks like Vande Sleeper necessitates a holistic approach, combining technological innovation, strategic planning and manufacturing to ensure a safe, reliable and comfortable travel. This involves development of prototype, extensive testing and trials followed by series production. 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.

  • Ergonomically designed ladder for ease of climbing on to upper berths.

 

As on 12.03.2026, the following 02 Vande Bharat train services (Sleeper Car) are being operated on the Indian Railways network:

SN

Train No. and Name

1

27575/27576 Howrah - Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express

 

Besides, introduction of new train services, including Vande Bharat services and its variants, is an on-going process, which 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.

This information was provided by the Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a reply to questions in Lok Sabha today.

 *****

Dharmendra Tewari/ Dr. Nayan Solanki/ Ritu Raj

 


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