IRCTC: Indian Railways plans to introduce 10 new Vande Bharat Sleeper trains by 2025–26. This will significantly enhance long-distance overnight travel in India. These sleeper trains are aimed at providing the comfort of air travel while also delivering a faster, safer, and more premium rail experience.
The Vande Bharat Sleeper train will have 16 modern coaches and will provide First AC, Second AC, and Third AC classes; they will reportedly carry almost 823 passengers in total. Crime will be attempted by these coaches as they come equipped with safety building blocks for anti-collision and have crash buffer ends. The Vande Bharat sleeper trains will have automatic doors to allow entry from both sides of the train, will incorporate sound proofing, and will also come with fly dampers and high-speed suspension, noise control, and improved ride comfort.
Preliminary Routes and Major Cities Identified
While the routes have not been confirmed yet, the following ten overnight corridors which have high STR indications are of high-demand and are expected to be on the shortlist:
New Delhi – Mumbai (via Kota, Vadodara)
New Delhi – Pune (via Bhopal, Nashik)
The New Delhi – Howrah (via Kanpur, Varanasi, Asansol)
New Delhi – Bengaluru (via Nagpur, Hyderabad)
New Delhi – Chennai (via Bhopal, Nagpur, Vijayawada)
The New Delhi – Jammu Tawi – Srinagar (via Ludhiana, Katra)
Mumbai – Ahmedabad – Jaipur – Delhi
Bengaluru – Hyderabad – Bhubaneswar
Chennai – Coimbatore – Kochi – Thiruvananthapuram
Kolkata – Patna – Lucknow – Delhi
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These routes were selected, as they exhibited strong passenger demand, time intervals, and readiness of infrastructure.