Indian Railways plans to introduce 14 new Vande Bharat Express routes connecting tier-2 cities by the end of the year, according to a ministry statement, extending the semi-high-speed service beyond its current metro-focused network.
The expansion will require new maintenance depots in five states, with construction already under way at two sites. Officials said the new routes were selected based on existing passenger demand on overnight mail and express services.
Railway unions have separately raised concerns about staffing levels at the new depots, seeking assurances that maintenance work will not be outsourced.
Ministry officials said the selection criteria weighted three factors: existing overnight occupancy on mail and express services, freight-corridor conflicts that limit daytime slot availability, and the readiness of platform infrastructure to handle the Vande Bharat's longer dwell-time requirements at intermediate stops. Four of the fourteen routes were shortlisted only after state governments agreed to co-fund platform extension work, a cost-sharing arrangement the ministry says it will use as a template going forward.
The rollout timeline has already slipped once, from an original target of the previous fiscal year, after delays in coach production at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. A second manufacturing line commissioned earlier this year is expected to close that gap, with officials projecting all fourteen rakes delivered by the fourth quarter.
Unions representing maintenance staff say they have not yet received written assurances on outsourcing, and have flagged the new depots specifically, arguing that contract staffing at existing Vande Bharat depots has already led to inconsistent inspection standards. A joint meeting with zonal railway management is scheduled for later this month.
State governments in the five depot states have separately pushed for local hiring quotas at the new facilities, a demand the ministry has so far deferred to the individual zonal railways rather than setting a national policy.
Ticketing data from existing Vande Bharat routes shows occupancy consistently above 85 percent on the metro corridors launched first, a track record officials are citing internally as justification for the tier-2 expansion despite the higher per-kilometre subsidy the newer, lower-density routes are expected to require in their first two years of operation.
