The important question to answer though is the routes these should run on, the pricing of the tickets, the contribution to the railways bottomline and whether the experience of the two operational routes so far presents an optimistic case for more investment.
These high-speed train look-alikes created a buzz when they were first revealed with their radically different appearance and features not normally seen in Indian Railways trains. Vande Bharat Express is an all air-conditioned chair car service with premium aircraft-style comforts. Interestingly, AC Chair car is among the only two operationally profitable classes of passenger travel for railways - the other being AC 3 tier.
Railways is upgrading its major routes to 160 kmph. Since travel in non-AC sleeper coaches would be uncomfortable at higher speeds, there are plans to run faster AC trains on key routes. The demand for AC train travel has also seen a steady growth in the last few years.
Vande Bharat Express trains can meet both passenger and railways needs - AC travel, higher speed potential and importantly the potential to become a profit yielding project for railways. We analyse the Vande Bharat project, occupancy and earnings trends of the two trains in service. Experts are of the view that if its routes and fares are right, the new trains will be win-win for passengers and railways.
What is the Vande Bharat train project?
Vande Bharat is a first-of-its-kind "engine-less" train set that runs on distributed traction. It has a speed potential of 160 kmph and design speed of 180 kmph. The train set has faster acceleration and deceleration, thus bringing down the travel time.
Some of the major features of the train are; European-style seats, rotating seats in Executive Class, diffused LED lighting, personalised reading lights, automatic entry/exit doors with sliding footsteps, fully sealed gangways for dust-free environment, modular bio-vacuum toilets, mini pantry and sensor-based interconnecting doors in each coach.
Earlier this year, the contract for self-propulsion systems and other equipment for 44 Vande Bharat train rakes was awarded to Medha Servo. The first prototype of the upgraded Vande Bharat will be ready by March 2022. Some of the improvements will be; disaster lights, more emergency push buttons, push back reclining arrangement for seats, flood protection for underslung equipment, centralised coach monitoring system, emergency windows etc.
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75 Vande Bharat trains: Deciding fares and routes
At present, railways runs two Vande Bharats; Delhi-Varanasi-Delhi and Delhi-Katra-Delhi. Data accessed by TOI on occupancy and earnings of the two trains suggests a healthy demand.
Railway experts are of the opinion that an average occupancy of above 80% and realisation of above 90% of revenue potential in a premium train is good news for railways.
Experts believe that railways should eye passengers of low cost airlines for deciding routes and fares of new Vande Bharat trains. According to Vinayak Chatterjee, Non-Executive Chairman at Feedback Infra Group, the trains should be positioned to wean the budget traveller away from airlines. "This is for a railway journey that can be accomplished in about 6 hours or so. That would broadly indicate linking towns which are 1 to 1 1/2 hours by air," he told TOI. "With the cumbersome formalities of getting through airports, many travellers may increasingly opt for the city-centre to city-centre connectivity provided by Vande Bharat trains with just an hour or two more travel time, and at cheaper cost overall," he said.
G Raghuram, Principal Academic Advisor at NRTI recommends two types of services. "Indian Railways should analyse their top Origin-Destination pairs which attract AC passengers. Chart out two types of routes for Vande Bharat; the 300-700 km (primarily day sitting services) and the 800 to 1500 kms (primarily night sleeping services)," he told TOI.
Vande Bharat Executive Chair Car
Raghuram further explains, "For example, one Vande Bharat can run between Chennai-Bangalore at an average speed of 100 kmph - reaching in 3.5 hours. The business traveller can leave at 6:00 AM and reach 9:30 AM on either side and return by 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM train the same day. This will make it very competitive with low cost airlines," he said.
"In the meantime for better fleet utilisation the same train rake can do another run between the two cities - this time targeting tourists or family travellers. While a premium can be charged from the business traveller, the fares for the day run can be kept lower. This will not only improve fleet utilisation, but also yield better profits," Raghuram added.
Similarly, he recommends a "sleeper-friendly" Vande Bharat for overnight routes such as Bangalore-Mumbai or Delhi-Mumbai. "The Executive chair car can have airline-style business class seats that can turn into beds. The AC Chair car seats can be made more reclinable. With speeds being upgraded to 130 kmph on major routes and up to 160 kmph on some, up to a 14 hour (1500 km) journey should be manageable," he said.
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Devi Prasad Pandey, Former Member (Traffic) Railway Board says that an average occupancy of 70% both ways should be targeted. "AC chair car is a profitable class and the fares of the Vande Bharat should follow the dynamic fare principle. Instead of keeping the base fare higher than Shatabdi, the tariff should go up based on increasing occupancy," he told TOI. "This should however see a cap at the ticket price of a low cost airline on that route. Otherwise you will lose out to airways." he added.
Future of rail travel: Need for faster AC trains
Data shows that between 2010-11 to 2017-18, the maximum annual growth in passenger traffic came from the AC category. While AC 3 passengers saw a CAGR of 10.33%, AC Chair Car and Executive Chair Car grew at 9% and 12% respectively.
It has been proposed that the passenger demand for air-conditioned inter-city travel between 200 to 700 kms be met by chair car train sets. According to the Draft National Rail Plan 2024, train sets will be run on Golden Quadrilateral and Golden Diagonals since these routes will be upgraded to 160 kmph. The total number of train sets required to meet the demand is given below:
Shri Prakash, Former Railway Board Member (Traffic) says it's important for the trains to run at an average speed of 100 kmph. "The new Vande Bharat trains have to be competitive against road travel. One can clock an average speed of 80-90 kmph on highways, and using a personal vehicle also provides end-to-end connectivity. At present Shatabdis are not competitive on most routes," he told TOI.
Devi Prasad Pandey also emphasises on the need for speed. "If the routes identified for Vande Bharat are ones that can clock 130 kmph to 160 kmph speeds then longer distance Vande Bharat trains will be a gamechanger," he told TOI.
The latest India Brand Equity Foundation sector report highlights that railways is looking at changing the composition of coaches in trains to push for the "more profitable" AC travel. Introduction of Vande Bharat trains and Tejas sleeper Rajdhani trains offering premium services is a step in that direction. For the railways to increase its revenues and profitability, the new services will have to be cost-competitive, faster and more premium for passengers to opt for them.
Explained: 75 Vande Bharat trains could mean a new era for Indian Railways & passengers - in 5 charts - Times of India
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