Nagpur: Central Railway officials have finally bit the bullet as they have decided to trim the country’s first 20 coach Vande Bharat introduced between Nagpur-Secunderabad section to just 8- car rake. The decision was pending for the last two months after the Railway Board took a review of ticket sales in the Vande Bharat and went for redeployment of the assets.
The new composition of Nagpur-Secunderabad Vande Bharat will take effect from February 19 onwards, says a coaching notification issued by Principal Chief Operations Manager (PCOM). The Secunderabad Vande Bharat was flagged off with much fanfare from Nagpur station in the month of September. However, from the start itself, the premium train failed to find takers. The seat occupancy was just 25 per cent, though it was the first time Railways was running 20-car Vande Bharat in the country. The train was flagged off in the third week of September from Nagpur and within the first month of its run, travellers indicated that they would prefer regular trains.
Gold Rate
13 June 2025
Further, travellers also prefer road routes as it offers more convenience of travel, including overnight travel. Various reasons were given for low occupancy in the Vande Bharat, the first being inconvenient timings. The train starts ex-Nagpur at 5 am, which is quite odd and reaches Secunderabad mid-afternoon. For many travellers to Hyderabad, these timings were quite unpopular as most part of the day gets lost. Hyderabad is a working place for Tech guys and hence for them, Vande Bharat was not much suitable.
Further, the fare of VandeBharat compared to other Mail/Express trains was on the higher side as there was some difference in travel time. Vande Bharat takes 7 hours and 15 minutes while other Mail/Express trains take seven hours and 30 minutes to eight hours and beyond, but still travellers gave a cold shoulder to the premium train. Vande Bharat offered seating capacity only, while in other trains, travellers had the option for sleeper facility.
Before Secunderabad, the country’s first Vande Bharat train on Nagpur-Bilaspur route too suffered a similar fate. That train was introduced as a 16-coach train but within a month, its composition was altered and now, it’s an 8-coach train.
