Inaugurated last month, the first Vande Bharat train for Kerala is seeing an overwhelming response as the Ministry data shows that the train is having around 200% occupancy.
Speaking to News18, an official from the ministry said that the eagerness to travel in Vande Bharat trains among public can be well understood with the high occupancy rate registered, as all 36 services – 18 pairs of trains – have around 100% occupancy. Occupancy of more than 100% included the passengers in the waitlist.
“As per the data, from April 1 till May 30, all services of Vande Bharat trains have high patronage. The 36 services have around 100% occupancy. Kasargod-Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod Vande Bharat service has achieved an overwhelming, around 190%, occupancy rate," the official said, requesting anonymity.
So far, 18 pairs of Vande Bharats are running across India, with the latest being inaugurated on Monday.
“These trains have connected 22 states and more than 100 districts of the country, which has helped stimulate local economies and support small businesses in the areas it serves. Presently, Vande Bharat is serving people at 99 unique stoppages," the official added.
Flagged off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express, which will enhance connectivity from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod. pic.twitter.com/u1RqG5SoVU— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 25, 2023
Till May 21, the 36 services of Vande Bharat trains have covered 38,43,934.12 km which is equivalent to 95.64 rounds of the Earth.
So far, with these 18 pairs of trains, 22 states have been connected with Vande Bharat. While the dates are yet to be finalsed, it is expected that later this week, the Vande Bharat train between Mumbai and Goa will be inaugurated. It will be the first Vande Bharat train for Goa.
The states or Union territories that have already been connected with Vande Bharat are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, and Assam.
Of these 18 pairs of Vande Bharat trains, at least six pairs are operational from Delhi. The national capital is connected with these semi-high-speed trains with Dehradun, Ajmer, Varanasi, Katra, Bhopal, and Amb Andaura.
Next in line is Mumbai which has three trains – one each for Gandhinagar, Shirdi and Solapur. Two pairs of Vande Bharat trains are operating from Chennai for Mysuru and Coimbatore. Three pairs of Vande Bharat trains are operating from West Bengal – New Jalpaiguri-Guwahati; Howrah-New Jalpaiguri and Puri-Howrah, with two of these inaugurated this month.
Vande Bharat trains are also operational on the Bilaspur-Nagpur, Secunderabad-Tirupati, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, and Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod routes.
Comments
0 comment