Nearly 30% fall in airfares after Vande Bharat trains launch: Report

Indian Railways has started monitoring the demand for Vande Bharat trains on the basis of gender and age of passengers. The data include the number of males, females, and transgenders traveling on the four Vande Bharat routes — three from Mumbai to Shirdi, Goa, and Solapur. 

For the first time, the Central Railway collated data that revealed the highest number of passengers traveling in Vande Bharat Express starting from Mumbai belonging to the age group of 31-45 years, followed by 15-30 years of age. 

In total, there are 85,600 males, 57,838 females, and 26 transgenders traveled in Vande Bharat Express trains between September 15 to October 13, according to a report published by Hindustan Times.

The railways collected this data in an effort to popularise Vande Bharat trains and increase footfall. The recent data on occupancy ranges between 77% to 101% in September. 

“Children (1–14 years old) made up about 5% of passengers on average throughout this time, whereas transgender people made up 4.5% of all Vande Bharat passengers,” said Shivraj Manaspure, chief PRO of Central Railway as quoted by HT. 

According to estimates from the industry, after the introduction of the Vande Bharat train, there has been a sharp decline of 10–20% in air traffic and a reduction of 20–30% in airfare, Manaspure added. 

Paresh Rawal, Public Policy Analyst (Mobility and Transportation) stated that this macro data will play a crucial role in Railways' revenue generation from non-fare boxes, HT reported. 

“This data will give the industry a fair idea about the audience. In addition, this data will also help Indian Railways in planning future improvements in services, food menu and other amenities,” Rawal said. 

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said Kashmir is soon set to get Vande Bharat express train on the Jammu-Srinagar route. He added that the train has been designed in a unique way so that they run very smoothly in those temperatures and altitude.