Nagpur: In a strategic move by the Indian Railways, the Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat has seen a remarkable transformation from being the worst-performing train in its category at the beginning of the year to becoming the highest occupancy semi-high speed train in the Central Zone.
Recent Ministry data disclosed to news Media News18 reveals that in September, the Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat boasted an impressive occupancy rate of over 122 percent, making it the leader among the eight Vande Bharat services operated by the Central Zone. Notably, the occupancy figure includes passengers on waiting lists.
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Back in January, when there were 16 Vande Bharat services running throughout the country, the Bilaspur-Nagpur train had the lowest occupancy rate at 55.25 percent, in stark contrast to most other trains which were operating at over 120 percent occupancy. Only two services had less than 60 percent occupancy, and the Bilaspur-Nagpur train was one of them. This train was inaugurated on December 11, 2022.
Responding to consistently low ridership, in May, the Railways took the decision to replace the 16-coach Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat with an eight-coach variant.
From August onwards, this Vande Bharat service demonstrated the highest occupancy rates among all Vande Bharat services operated by the Central Zone.
An anonymous ministry official told News18, “In September, the Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat had the highest occupancy rate among all Vande Bharat trains in the Central Zone. The Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat had an occupancy rate of around 99 percent during the same period.”
The official further highlighted that the only two other services that achieved over 100 percent occupancy in September were the Mumbai-Madgaon route at 100.79 percent and Solapur-Mumbai at 101.24 percent.
“This clearly demonstrates that the decision to replace the original 16-coach train with a shorter eight-coach rake has proven to be a beneficial move,” they added.
Other Vande Bharat services operated by the Central Railways include Madgaon-Mumbai at 77.03 percent, Mumbai-Shirdi at 80.37 percent, Shirdi-Mumbai at 80.08 percent, and Mumbai-Solapur at 96.8 percent.
Currently, there are 34 Vande Bharat trains operating across various zones within the Indian Railways. In a noteworthy development, nine Vande Bharat trains were inaugurated on a single day last month. The Southern Railways, although fourth in terms of route kilometers among all zones, boasts the highest number of these high-speed trains, with six in operation.
