The Indian Railways is expected to launch nine semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express trains on several routes soon, media reports claimed. The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai is currently working on developing rakes for these nine trains.
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While the tentative routes for five out of the total nine Vande Bharat trains have been reportedly assigned, the remaining have been given to the Southern Railways, but not have been finalised.
The five new tentative Vande Bharat routes are:
Indore - Jaipur Vande Bharat Express
Jaipur-Udaipur Vande Bharat Express
Puri - Rourkela Vande Bharat Express
Patna-Howrah Vande Bharat Express
Jaipur-Chandigarh Vande Bharat Express
The Vande Bharat trains - India's first semi-highspeed trains - have been a huge hit among commuters as they are equipped with world-class passenger amenities. Currently, there are 25 Vande Bharat Expresses running across India covering 50 routes - four are in the Northern Zone, three in Southern and Central Zones, two in Western, West Central, and North Western Railway Zones, and one each in South East Central, Eastern, East Coast, South Central, South Eastern, Northeast Frontier, East Central, South Western and North Eastern Railway.
Meanwhile, the trial run of Odisha's second Puri-Rourkela Vande Bharat Express began on Monday. The train will run on the Puri-Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Dhenkanal-Angul-Rourkela route to cater to passengers between the coastal and western Odisha regions. Odisha's first Vande Bharat Express from Puri to Howrah was flagged off in May by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Also read: Bengal Vande Bharat coaches replaced after technical glitch, passengers protest
Over 1 lakh passengers travelled in Vande Bharat trains within a month
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the trial run of Odisha's second Puri-Rourkela Vande Bharat Express began on Monday. The train will run on the Puri-Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Dhenkanal-Angul-Rourkela route to cater to passengers between the coastal and western Odisha regions. Odisha's first Vande Bharat Express from Puri to Howrah was flagged off in May by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Also read: Bengal Vande Bharat coaches replaced after technical glitch, passengers protest
Over 1 lakh passengers travelled in Vande Bharat trains within a month
{{/usCountry}}According to the Central Railways, a total of 1.22 lakh passengers travelled in Vande Bharat trains in the Central Railway region from August 15 to September 8. The railways earned a total revenue of 10.72 crores within a month, reported news agency ANI.
The media release also mentioned the occupancy rates for other Vande Bharat trains - Nagpur-Bilaspur Express (106.40%); CSMT Shirdi Express( 81.33%); Shirdi-CSMT Express ( 81.88%); CSMT Solapur Express (93.71%); Solapur CSMT Express(105.09%); Madgaon Express (92.05%).
(With inputs from agencies)