Indian Railways introduced 1,078 new train services across its network between the financial years 2020-2021 and 2025-2026 (up to February 2026), Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday, 13 March.
In a written reply to a question, the minister said introduction of news train services forms part of the Railways’ ongoing efforts to augment passenger travel facilities across the country.
“Indian Railways, during the period during 2020-2021 to 2025-2026 (upto Feb, 2026), introduced 1078 new train services on its network,” Vaishnaw said.
These services include 158 Vande Bharat Chair Car trains, two Vande Bharat Sleeper services, 54 Amrit Bharat Express services and four Namo Bharat Rapid Rail services, according to the minister.
Indian Railways has been progressively expanding modern train categories such as Vande Bharat to improve travel experience through advanced safety features, improved ride comfort and modern passenger amenities.
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The Vande Bharat Chair Car trains feature modern safety and operational systems including jerk-free semi-permanent couplers, KAVACH safety integration, centrally controlled automatic plug doors and improved fire safety mechanisms.
Other passenger amenities include CCTV systems in coaches, coach condition monitoring systems and improved accessibility features for Divyangjan passengers.
The Vande Bharat Sleeper services represent the long-distance overnight version of the Vande Bharat platform and include upgraded safety and comfort features such as anti-climbers, crashworthy coach design, regenerative braking systems, improved fire safety mechanisms and enhanced passenger amenities.
In addition to the Vande Bharat services, Indian Railways has also introduced Amrit Bharat Express trains, which are fully non-air-conditioned long-distance trains designed to provide modern travel amenities and improved comfort for passengers.
The network also includes Namo Bharat Rapid Rail services aimed at enhancing suburban and short-distance inter-city connectivity through faster and more efficient train operations.
The minister also noted that train services are introduced based on operational feasibility and several factors such as section capacity, availability of train paths, rolling stock availability and maintenance requirements of railway infrastructure.
