The speed of the superfast express and one of the most popular trains of India, Vande Bharat has reduced in the last three years because of unsuitable track conditions. Here’s what the Indian Railway has to say about it…
Vande Bharat Express Speed: Railway is one of the most popular and convenient means of public transport, especially in India, where this mode is considered to be the most comfortable. Speaking of the best trains under Indian Railway as of today, one name that will be said by everyone, is the Vande Bharat Express. A superfast express launched in 2019, the Vande Bharat Express covers almost all cities across India and is also extremely fast and comfortable. Speaking of speed, according to the Indian Railway, in a response to an RTI query, in the last three years, there has been a drop in the speed of the Vande Bharat trains because of unsuitable track conditions.
Vande Bharat Express Average Speed Reduced
The average speed of Vande Bharat trains has decreased from 84.48 kmph in 2020-21 to 76.25 kmph in 2023-24, the railway ministry said in a response to an RTI query. Railway officials said not only Vande Bharats but many other trains are also maintaining cautionary speed at places were “huge infrastructural work” is underway. “Besides this, some Vande Bharat trains have been launched in difficult terrain areas where there are speed restrictions due to geographical reasons or extreme weather conditions,” a railway official said.
An expert engaged in track construction said the first Vande Bharat was launched in February 2019 and it has been more than five years since then, but the railways is yet to replace tracks on any route so that the train can run at its maximum operating speed of 160 kmph.
“The railways’ argument is that since infrastructure work is going on, it restricts the speed of Vande Bharat trains. But this is also true that in five years, it has failed to lay tracks suitable for running semi-high speed trains,” the expert said requesting anonymity. The RTI applicant, Madhya Pradesh-based Chandra Shekhar Gaur, said, “The data, obtained through the RTI, shows that the average speed of Vande Bharat trains was 84.48 in 2020-21, which decreased to 81.38 kmph in 2022-23. It further deteriorated in 2023-24 to 76.25.”
Vande Bharat Express Speed On Different Routes
“There are certain segments of tracks between Delhi and Agra which were developed in 2016 for India’s first semi-high speed train Gatiman Express to run at 160 kmph. Only on those segments, the Vande Bharat also runs at 160 kmph speed. Rest of the places, its maximum speed is either 130 or less than,” another railway official said. He said the railways has been upgrading tracks to meet the speed requirement of the Vande Bharat and “it is because of these reasons there are cautions at various places”. “Once these upgrades are over, we will have trains which will go up to 250 kmph,” the official said.
Citing the example of the Vande Bharat train between Mumbai CSMT and Madgaon, an official of the Central Railway Zone said, “Most of the Konkan railway area is ‘ghat’ section where trains pass through low height mountain ranges. It is a difficult terrain area where increasing speed could compromise safety.” “Things become very challenging during the monsoon season when we have to keep the maximum speed for all trains at 75 kmph,” he added. Some of the routes on which the Vande Bharat’s speed is worse than its overall average speed are Dehradun-Anand Vihar (63.42 kmph), Patna-Ranchi (62.9 kmph) and Coimbatore-Bangalore Cantt (58.11 kmph).
(Inputs from PTI)