The Indian Railways is quickly transforming the rail ecosystem of India, by introducing many new initiatives. Among these, the introduction of the Vande Bharat Express trains has been the most successful one, with the kind of fanfare, these semi-high speed trains are receiving from the travellers as well as enthusiasts. Till now, 23 Vande Bharat Express trains have been made operational across 24 states and Union Territories. While one of the reasons why Vande Bharat trains are commanding such rave response is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated every single Vande Bharat train in India.


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On February 15, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first Vande Bharat Express between New Delhi and Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, which was manufactured indigenously at the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai. But more than that, it has to do with the kind of facilities and the speed these trains are offering to the travellers. With an operational speed of 160 kmph, Vande Bharat is the fastest train by Indian Railways.


Among these 23 Vande Bharat Express trains, the Kasaragod to Trivandrum train is the best-performing Vande Bharat Express with an average occupancy of 183 per cent. The Vande Bharat Express between Trivandrum and Kasaragod in Kerala, with an average occupancy of 176 per cent is the next best-performing train, followed by the Gandhinagar-Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express with an average occupancy of 134 per cent, reported PTI.


The trains with top occupancy include the Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express (129 per cent), Varanasi-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express (128 per cent), New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express (124 per cent), Dehradun-Amritsar Vande Bharat Express (105 per cent), Mumbai-Sholapur Vande Bharat Express (111 per cent), Sholapur-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express (104 per cent).


In the eastern region, the Howrah-Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express has an average occupancy of 108 per cent and on the return journey, it has recorded an occupancy of 103 per cent. The Patna-Ranchi Vande Bharat Express has an occupancy of 125 per cent, while on its return journey, it has an occupancy of 127 per cent. Among the trains with the lowest performance and popularity is the Ajmer to Delhi Cantonment Vande Bharat Express (60 per cent) and the Delhi Cantonment to Ajmer train (83 per cent).


So far the train has made 2,140 trips, and 25,20,370 net passengers have boarded the Vande Bharat Express from April 1, 2022, to June 21, 2023. As of July 2022, a tender has been awarded for manufacturing 102 Vande Bharat trains and another tender has been floated for 200 Vande Bharat trains.


On June 27, PM Modi inaugurated 5 Vande Bharat Express trains in one go, from Bhopal's Rani Kamlapati Station. Further, more Vande Bharat Express trains are planned to be launched in the coming months.