16 out of 102 Vande Bharat trains catering to needs of Maharashtra: Railway Minister

New Delhi: Out of 102 Vande Bharat trains operating in the country at present, 16 are catering to the needs of the people of Maharashtra, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

The minister was responding on Wednesday to the questions raised by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Pavan Rajenimbalkar, who wanted to know the details of the proposed number of 'Vande Bharat Express' trains and their routes for Maharashtra.

"As on 19th July, 2024, 102 Vande Bharat Express services are operating on the Indian Railways network. Of these, 16 Vande Bharat Services are catering to the needs of the stations located in the State of Maharashtra," Vaishnaw said.

"Besides, introduction of new train services, including Vande Bharat Express services, is an ongoing process on Indian Railways subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, resource availability, etc," the minister added.

Rajenimbalkar also asked the number of trains proposed to be launched by the government in the current financial year, particularly to connect the tourist destinations of Maharashtra with other states, and the details of the coach factories set up in the country along with the total production capacity of Vande Bharat Express trains from these coach factories.

"Indian Railways (IR) have issued 'Bharat Gaurav Trains' policy in November 2021 with the objective to showcase India's rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places through Bharat Gaurav Trains. These are theme-based tourist circuits trains," Vaishnaw said.

"Under the policy, Railways does not propose routes or circuits. Instead, service providers have full flexibility to decide the themes/itineraries for operation of Bharat Gaurav tourist circuit trains which may include tourist circuits of any part of India, including the State of Maharashtra based on market demand, commercial viability etc," he further said.

According to the railway minister, the Vande Bharat coaches are being manufactured at Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, Tamil Nadu; Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala, Punjab; and Modern Coach Factory (MCF), Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.

Vaishnaw also said the process of manufacture of Vande Bharat coaches by technology partner in Marathwada Coach Factory, Latur is underway.

"IR coach factories have the capability to manufacture about 7,500 coaches per annum including Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB), Vande Bharat, Electric Multiple Unit (EMU), Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) etc. Yearly coach product-mix is decided as per traffic requirement," Vaishnaw said.

"Work amounting to Rs 3,595.31 crore has been sanctioned/proposed to augment the production capacity of LHB and Vande Bharat coaches in the production units," Vaishnaw added.