Overview
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday flagged off weekly Amrit Bharat Express services linking Banaras with Pune (Hadapsar) and Ayodhya Cantt with Mumbai’s Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.
- The inaugural Banaras–Hadapsar run is scheduled to take about 30 hours with 18 stops, while the Ayodhya–Mumbai service is set for roughly 28 hours with 12 stops.
- Amrit Bharat trains are fully non-AC with General and Sleeper coaches, a pantry car, CCTV, and push-pull locomotives, and fares are about 15–17% higher than regular Mail/Express services to fund faster, safer operations and upgraded fittings.
- Indian Railways made permanent the upgrade of the Mumbai Central–Ahmedabad Vande Bharat to a 20-coach formation from Tuesday, adding three AC Chair Cars and one Executive Class coach to improve seat availability on the five-and-a-half-hour corridor.
- Rail officials report 162 Vande Bharat services nationwide and nearly 4 crore riders in FY 2025–26, and they have announced a Bengaluru–Mumbai Vande Bharat sleeper for August 1, 2026, as schedules for the new Amrit Bharat services move from inaugural runs to regular operations.