Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw responded to the query.
Maximum Speed of Vande Bharat
In a written reply, the Railway Minister stated that although the Vande Bharat train is designed to run at 180 kilometres per hour, its current maximum operational speed is 160 kilometres per hour. Several factors contribute to this. The Minister explained that a train’s speed depends on track infrastructure, maintenance, and the route, including the distance to the next station.Railway Track Upgrades
He further added that significant work has been undertaken in the last 10 years to upgrade railway tracks and increase train speeds. Track speeds have improved considerably, with over 78% of tracks in the country now upgraded to handle speeds of 110 km/h or more.Rajya Sabha Member’s Question
Rajya Sabha MP Fauzia Khan (फौजिया खान) raised the issue of Vande Bharat’s speed with the Railway Minister. She pointed out that the average speed of Vande Bharat trains decreased from 84.48 km/h in 2020-21 to 76.25 km/h in 2023-24, and asked if the government was aware of this. The Railway Minister provided a detailed response to this question, also mentioning ongoing track upgrades to further increase speeds. It is noteworthy that the Vande Bharat train service was launched in 2019. Currently, a total of 140 Vande Bharat trains are operational across various routes in the country, with plans to launch more routes in the future.
