Vande Bharat Trains Achieves Overall Occupancy Of 105.7% From April, 2023 To March, 2024

Vande Bharat trains that commenced commercial service on February 15  2019, has achieved overall occupancy of 105.7% between April, 2023 and March, 2024. According to Indian Railways, the trains have completed 18,423 trips during the period. Currently, 102 Vande Bharat trains are being operated apart from some services run on demand basis.

These trains have covered a distance of 1.24 Crore km from the date of commencement till March 31, 2024. The highest occupancy of 175.3% was recorded in Kerala while the state also recorded highest number of senior citizens travelling in the train which is 15.7%. Commuters between 26 and 45 years of age travelled most in these trains which is 45.9%, Indian Railways said in a report.

Vande Bharat trains are self-propelling Electric Multiple Units (EMU)s with eight or sixteen coaches. The trainset has been designed and manufactured by Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.

According to the report, overall percentage of male passengers travelling in Vande Bharat trains was 61.7% with Jharkhand recording maximum percentage of male passengers (67%) from April, 2023 to March, 2024. Similarly, a total of 38.3% female commuters used these services with Goa recording highest percentage of female passengers of 42%, the report said.

Vande Bharat trains have modern coaches besides rnhanced safety features and amenities such as coaches fitted with KAVACH, faster acceleration and semi high speed operation up to 160 KMPH, fully sealed gangway for Free Passenger Movement, Automatic Plug Doors, reclining ergonomic seats and comfortable seating with revolving seats in executive class, better ride comfort, mobile charging sockets for every seat, mini pantry with provision of Hot Case, Bottle Cooler, Deep freezer & Hot Water Boiler etc.

While the coaches have direct and diffused lighting, special lavatory in DTC has been made available for Divyangjan passengers. Emergency openable windows and fire extinguisher in each coach, CCTVs in all coaches, emergency alarm push buttons and talk nack units on all coaches are also made available.

For better fire safety, Aerosol based fire detection and suppression system is in place in electrical cabinets and lavatories while driver-guard communication with voice recording facility & crash hardened memory is also available. Coach Condition Monitoring System (CCMS) display with emote monitoring, four disaster lights in each coach in case of emergency apart from four platform side cameras including rear view cameras have also been installed outside the coaches.