The speed of the prestigious Vande Bharat Express trains, introduced by the central government, has decreased. Initially, these trains ran at an average speed of 84.48 km/h, but currently, they operate at an average speed of 76.25 km/h. The railway department revealed this information in response to an RTI application filed by an activist. During the trial run, the Vande Bharat Express trains achieved a speed of 99 km/h. Railway officials stated that in the early days (2020-21), Vande Bharat trains ran at an average speed of 84.48 km/h. However, they later reduced the speed on some routes due to the country's geographical and climatic conditions.
By 2022-23, the speed of these trains was reduced to an average of 81.38 km/h. They mentioned that running trains at an average speed of 75 km/h during the rainy season is challenging. In reality, Vande Bharat trains have the capability to reach speeds of up to 160 km/h. However, the railway tracks in the country are not capable of supporting such high speeds, with only a few tracks, like those between Delhi and Agra, being able to accommodate this speed.
Currently, some trains are still running at a maximum speed of 160 km/h. However, the maximum speed on several other tracks is much lower. For example, on the Dehradun - Anand Vihar track, the average speed is 63.42 km/h, on the Patna - Ranchi track it is 62.9 km/h, and on the Coimbatore - Bangalore track, trains run at an average speed of only 58.11 km/h.
Vande Bharat Express: Average Speed Decreases, Here’s Why
