‘Vande Bharat Sleepers to be launched once second train arrives by Oct 15’

New Delhi: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said the Vande Bharat Sleeper trains will be launched once the second train is ready for regular service.

One train is ready for launch at Shakur Basti Coaching Depot in Delhi after undergoing necessary trials and testing, according to officials.

Briefing the media, Vaishnaw said that the second train is being manufactured and will possibly be ready by October 15, 2025.

“Both the trains will be launched together,” he said.

The minister emphasised that the second train is important to maintain the continuity of regular services.

“That’s why we are waiting for a second rake. Once we get it, we will decide any route and start operations,” Vaishnaw added.

Speculation is rife that the trains will be launched between New Delhi and Patna as Bihar is going to polls by the end of the year. Vaishnaw, along with Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, briefed the media on the status of the existing and upcoming railway projects in Punjab.

They said the upcoming 18-kilometre Rajpura-Mohali line will connect the area to Chandigarh via the shortest route on the Ambala-Amritsar main line.

Besides providing direct connectivity between Rajpura and Mohali and reducing travel distance by approximately 66 kilometres, the rail link will also ease traffic on the existing Rajpura-Ambala route and shorten the Ambala-Morinda link.

Vaishnaw said the Railway Ministry has also proposed to launch a new Vande Bharat train between New Delhi and Firozpur Cantonment, which will cover the Faridkot, Bhatinda (W), Dhuri, Patiala, Ambala Cantonment, Kurukshetra and Panipat stations.