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Vande Bharat Express: More than 50 Vande Bharat trains are currently running in the country. But many of these trains are not getting passengers. Nagpur-Secunderabad Vande Bharat is also included in this. There is a plan to replace this 20 coach Vande Bharat Express, which is running at about 25 percent less occupancy, with a rake of 8 coaches. This will be changed after the new consignment of Vande Bharat trains arrives. This train was launched on 19 September this year. But it never ran with full occupancy except for eight days during the Diwali holidays. Nagpur Division Central Railway officials say that the proposal to divide the train into two parts has been sent to the Mumbai headquarters. Of these, it is proposed to run one train on the Secunderabad section and one on some other section. Senior officials said they have also proposed to change the departure time from Nagpur from the current 5 am to 7 am. Speaking to Times of India, Dr Swapnil Neela, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Central Railway, said that there is a proposal to replace the existing Vande Bharat rakes. Since the coaches cannot be separated, we will have to replace it with eight coaches, which can be expanded as per the need.
what is the problem
Vande Bharat train can have 8, 16 or 20 coaches depending on the route and expected number of passengers. A rake with 8 coaches can be a better option for Nagpur-Secunderabad. The standard 16-coach train has two executive class coaches and 14 chair car coaches. Nagpur-Secunderabad Vande Bharat has 20 rakes and a seating capacity of 1,440 passengers. Officials say that the 20-coach Vande train can be especially useful on routes where there is often crowd.
Officials said that the final decision on which route to run the Nagpur-Secunderabad train will be taken by the Railway Board. Brij Bhushan Shukla, member of the Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee (ZRUCC), believes that considering the number of passengers in the last three months, running an 8-coach Vande Bharat train would be a wise decision. Being the fastest train (130 kmph) on the Secunderabad route, it has immense potential to become the preferred mode of transport for passengers, provided the timings are adjusted.
started in september
This train, numbered 20101-20102, started its commercial operations on September 19. This train runs six days a week except Tuesday. It departs from Nagpur at 5 am and reaches Secunderabad at 12.15 pm. The train covers this distance in 7.15 hours. In return direction it leaves Secunderabad at 1 pm and the train reaches Nagpur at 8.20 pm. ZRUCC member Satish Yadav says that there are many trains running between Nagpur and Hyderabad/Secunderabad during the day, due to which the departure time of 5 am is less liked by the passengers. He suggests that the Railways should advance the departure time by at least two hours to attract passengers.
Yadav also said that Vande Bharat takes 7.15 hours to reach Secunderabad, while Rajdhani and other mail/express trains take only 8.5 to 9 hours. Therefore, passengers are not ready to leave another train and come to Vande Bharat. ZRUCC member Basant Shukla suggests that the train should leave Nagpur at 8 am and start its return journey from Secunderabad at 4 pm. He believes that passengers prefer to travel during the day due to the risks associated with bus travel. This schedule will also attract passengers returning from Hyderabad.
