Indian Railways has announced that seven Vande Bharat Express trains will be upgraded with additional coaches in response to rising passenger demand and high occupancy levels. The decision follows an internal review of traffic data for the ongoing financial year, highlighting the popularity of these semi-high-speed services.
According to the Railway Board, three routes currently operating with 16 coaches will be expanded to 20 coaches. These include the Mangaluru Central–Thiruvananthapuram Central, Secunderabad–Tirupati, and Chennai Egmore–Tirunelveli services.
In addition, four routes that were running with 8 coaches will be doubled to 16 coaches. The trains benefiting from this upgrade are the Madurai–Bengaluru Cantonment, Deoghar–Varanasi, Howrah–Rourkela, and Indore–Nagpur Vande Bharat Express services.
The officials noted that once these coaches are added, the redeployed trainsets will also allow the launch of new services on other busy corridors. Indian Railways is further preparing to introduce more 20-coach Vande Bharat rakes in the near future, signaling a steady expansion of capacity.
The move is expected to reduce waiting lists, improve passenger convenience, and make better use of the growing fleet of Vande Bharat trains. With their popularity continuing to rise, Indian Railways is positioning the service as a central pillar in modernizing the country’s rail travel experience.
