Nagpur: There are currently 10 Vande Bharat Express trains running between different cities in the country and the popularity of these trains is also seen to have increased tremendously. However, Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express is an exception. It has been seen that this train is getting a response of around 55 percent, a media report said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express on December 11, 2022 in Nagpur. This fully air-conditioned train has chair cars. It covers a distance of about 413 km in five and a half hours. Therefore, it was expected that the popularity of this train would also increase. But except Sundays, Mondays and Fridays, there is very little response to this train.
The maximum passenger rate of this train is 60 to 65 percent and the average is 55 percent. The railway administration has studied about the low response to this train and has also suggested some measures. There are not many regular travellers between Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh. More people come to Nagpur from Raipur for medical treatment and education. Such passengers do not come and go every day. The number of people travelling between these two cities for work and business is also not much. As a result, the Railways Commercial Department has concluded that the train cannot carry the required number of passengers.
The fare of this train is the same as the fare of ‘AC three tier’. Railway officials say that the issue of higher fares and less number of passengers is irrelevant. So, the schedule of this train is being considered to be slightly changed. This train departs from Nagpur at 2:05 pm and reaches Bilaspur at 7:35 pm. It departs from Bilaspur at 3:45 pm and reaches Nagpur at 7:55 pm. Ravish Kumar Singh, Senior Commercial Manager of South-East-Central Railway said that consideration is going on to change the timing of this train. As the lowest passenger Vande Bharat Express is getting popular day by day in the country, the demand is also increasing.
The Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express has improved features including reclining seats, CCTV cameras, automatic fire sensors, Wifi facility, three-hour battery backup, and GPS systems.
Many MPs have requested the Railways to make Vande Bharat trains available in their constituencies. Meanwhile, out of the 10 currently operating Vande Bharat trains, the Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat Express has the least number of passengers till January in this financial year. The Mumbai-Gandhinagar route is the route with the highest number of passengers (126 percent), according to the Railways.
