Vande Bharat Express: Indian Railways to introduce semi-high speed trains on THESE routes. Details here

The Indian Railways is set to soon introduce Vande Bharat Express trains across several routes in the country. Till now, the country operates 34 Vande Bharat train services across the Indian Railways network, connecting states having Broad Gauge (B.G.) electrified network.

Vande Bharat Express is an indigenously manufactured, semi-high speed, and self-propelled train set. The train is equipped with state-of-the-art passenger amenities, providing passengers with a faster, more comfortable and convenient travel experience.

Here's a list of the upcoming Vande Bharat Express trains

Jammu-Srinagar Vande Bharat Express: Railways has allocated the Vande Bharat Express train to the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) in Jammu & Kashmir, as per reports. The eight-car electric train is the Union Territories' first such train allotment. The Northern Railway had last week successfully conducted a 15 km trial run of the USBRL between Banihal and Khari railways stations in the Ramban district. Once the Kashmir Valley is connected to the Indian railway network, the Jammu to Srinagar journey will be faster and more comfortable for passengers. The Jammu to Srinagar journey by the new railway link is expected to take 3.5 hours

Secunderabad-Pune Vande Bharat  Train: The South Central Railway (SCR) is planning to launch the semi-high-speed train between Telangana's Secunderabad and Maharashtra's Pune city. As per reports, this train will be replacing the current Shatabdi Express on this route. Currently, the time that will be taken and the stops is not yet known. However, it will be less than the existing Shatabdi Express which takes about 8h 25m and stops include Secunderabad, Begumpet, Vikarabad Jn, Tandur, Wadi Jn, Kalaburagi Jn, Solapur, Pune.

Bengaluru-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express: The Karnataka Capital is likely to get another Vande Bharat Express train which will connect to Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore city. Reports state that the route has been in public demand as many often commute between two of these two cities. According to BJP leader and Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan, Railways is considering launching a Vande Bharat Express between Bengaluru and Coimbatore, and the official announcement on this route is expected shortly, media reports have stated. Currently, many other trains run on this route including the Ernakulam InterCity SF Express, Coimbatore UDAY Express, Kanniyakumari Express, and Coimbatore Express which take about 6 hrs 45 min to about 9 hours. 

Varanasi Delhi Vande Bharat Express: PM Modi will likely inaugurate the second Vande Bharat Express on the Delhi Varanasi route on 18 December, sources told The Hindu. As per the report, this second train is being started over high demand from passengers. Currently, the 22436 Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express departs from Delhi at 6 am and reaches Varanasi at around 2 pm. On the return journey, the train departs from Varanasi at 3 pm and reaches Delhi at 11 pm. As per the report, the second train on this route is expected to depart from Delhi during the second half of the day. 

Apart from these trains, reports also indicate that Vande Bharat trains are also anticipated on the following routes: Mumbai-Jalna, Pune-Vadodara, Tatanagar-Varanasi, Patna-Jalpaiguri, Madgaon-Mangalore, Delhi-Amritsar, Indore-Surat, Mumbai-Kolhapur, and Patna - New Jalpaiguri.

Meanwhile, Last week, on 8 December, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had said that the country would have 4,500 Vande Bharat trains running across India by 2047. Recently, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to Rajya Sabha also informed that more than 12,000 newly-manufactured train coaches have digital display boards containing information such as forthcoming station, destination, and running status, among others.

"Digital display boards containing information like forthcoming station, destination, train running status, and other safety information/announcement are provided in coaches of trains like Vande Bharat, Push-Pull, TEJAS, Humsafar, etc & Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) and Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) trains," Vaishnaw informed the Rajya Sabha on December 8. 

(Inputs from agency)