At present, 35 Vande Bharat trains are running in the country. These trains are fully air conditioned. These have CCTV surveillance, WiFi and Biocam-Vacule toilets. Vande Bharat has been introduced in the last few months on Chennai-Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod, Mumbai-Pune and Delhi-Jaipur routes. Air fares on these routes have dropped by 20-30 per cent as compared to April.
Domestic airlines may face a challenge from the Indian Railways in attracting customers. This can be seen especially on short distance routes. This is the reason for the increasing popularity of Vande Bharat . Railways has made a plan to run 100 new Vande Bharat trains in the next two to three years. The first Vande Bharat train was run four years ago. Experts and industry executives say that the number of Vande Bharat trains is increasing. Their speed is high. Price is affordable and travel experience is good. There is no hassle of security and baggage checking.
Currently running 35 Vande Bharat
At present, 35 Vande Bharat trains are running in the country. These trains are fully air conditioned. These have CCTV surveillance, WiFi and Biocam-Vacule toilets. The top speed of these trains is 180 km. But, right now these trains are being run at a lower speed in terms of safety. Vande Bharat has been introduced in the last few months on Chennai-Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod, Mumbai-Pune and Delhi-Jaipur routes. Air fares on these routes have come down by 20-30 per cent as compared to April. This has been revealed from the data of online travel agents.
People like vande bharat more than air travel
Gaurav Patwari, Vice-President (Air Category), Cleartrip, said, “There are many reasons for the reduction in airfares on the Chennai-Bengaluru route. These include reduction in ATF prices, capacity expansion of budget airlines, sluggish corporate demand and slowdown in the IT sector. Apart from this, people are using road and rail mediums due to the short distance between the two cities. These are considered more convenient than air travel. This is because That Bangalore’s airport is located far away from the city.”
Big drop in airlines fares
The average fare on the Bangalore-Chennai route fell to Rs 1,500-2,500 in June and July. In April and May it was around Rs 3,000-4,500. Similarly, the average airfare on the Mumbai-Pune route fell to Rs 2,800-3,500 in June-July. It was Rs 4,000-4,500 in April and May. The average fare for Delhi and Jaipur routes also fell to Rs 2,700-3,500 in June-July. It was Rs 3,500-4,500 in April and May.
