Report: Indian Railways May Reduce Vande Bharat Trains Fares Due To Low Occupancy

The Indian Railways is revising the tickets for some short-route Vande Bharat trains with low occupancy in an effort to save costs and make the trains more affordable for passengers. According to the research, Vande Bharat trains including the Indore-Bhopal, Bhopal-Jabalpur, and Nagpur-Bilaspur Express, among others, are likely to fall into this category.

Only 21% of seats were filled on the Indore-Bhopal Vande Bharat Express, compared to 29% on the Bhopal-Jabalpur Vande Bharat service. For the same trip, tickets for an AC Chair Car cost Rs 950 and for an Executive Chair Car cost Rs 1,525. The research suggested that the fare for this Vande Bharat service could be drastically lowered following the Railways’ assessment in order to encourage more people to use the train service.

The Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express, with an average occupancy of about 55%, is another train whose prices are being reviewed. The common belief is that it would perform significantly better if the rates were reduced considering the trip time of approximately 5 hours 30 minutes.

From Nagpur to Bilaspur, the executive class cost is Rs 2,045 and the chair car fare is Rs 1,075. As a result of its poor occupancy, the Tejas Express took its position in May. There will probably be a fare drop for the Bhopal-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express, which has a 32% occupancy rate, compared to a 36% occupancy rate on the Jabalpur-Bhopal Vande Bharat service on the way back route.