The Ministry of Railways had planned 35 Vande Bharat trains for the 2022-23 financial year but could only manage to deliver eight, prompting a parliamentary panel to warn that the Railways may fall short of its targets. The Standing Committee on Railways also asked the Railways to intensify production of rakes and coaches to meet the aspirations and demands of commuters.
The committee, headed by BJP MP Radha Mohan Singh, tabled its 14th report on the demand for grants for 2023-24 on Monday.
“The Committee, while expressing their concern, found that out of 35 rakes of Vande Bharat planned for the year 2022-23, only 8 rakes have been turned out till date. They are of the view that with this pace of production, the Railways may find it difficult to achieve their set target. They would like to suggest to the Ministry to intensify their efforts for production of Vande Bharat rakes/coaches in order to meet the aspirations of rail commuters,” the report reads.
The Committee also advised that the Railways should extend the technological support to other production units to enable them to manufacture the rakes and coaches of Vande Bharat trains.
In the latest Union Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced 400 Vande Bharat trains. The parliamentary committee, in its report, noted that as on February 17, 2023, the Indian Railways introduced 10 pairs of the flagship Vande Bharat Express.
“They have been informed that the manufacturing of 400 Vande Bharat rakes has been planned in a phased manner within the railway production units,” the report added.
As per plans, 120 rakes of Vande Bharat trains are to be produced at Marathwara Rail Coach Factory (MRCF), Latur; 80 rakes at ICF, Chennai; 100 rakes at Rail Coach Navinikarn Karkhana (RCNK), Sonipat; and 100 rakes at Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareilly, engaging different technology partners.
In the current financial year, three production units – ICF, RCF and MCF – have managed to produce 35 rakes (560 coaches) and plan to produce 67 rakes (1,072 coaches) in the year 2023-24, it said.
Ten Vande Bharat trains are currently in service, including two from Delhi for Varanasi and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra since 2019. Eight new and improved versions of Vande Bharat trains with enhanced safety features, better ride index and passenger amenities have been introduced in the last couple of months between Mumbai Central-Gandhi Nagar Capital, New Delhi-Amb Andaura, Chennai-Mysore, Bilaspur-Nagpur, Howrah-New Jalpaigudi, Secundrabad-Vishkhapatnam, Mumbai-Sholapur and Mumbai Shirdi.
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