Nagpur, India: The Vande Bharat train service between Nagpur and Secunderabad, introduced in September as the city’s third such service, has been struggling to attract passengers. With an average occupancy rate of only around 35%, there is a possibility that the train’s coaches may be reduced if this trend continues.

Despite the recent festive season, when trains were in high demand with crowded carriages and long waiting lists, the Vande Bharat Express on the Nagpur-Secunderabad route continued to see low occupancy. With a capacity of about 1,400 seats across Chair Car and Executive Class, the train often has more than 900 vacant seats. This lack of demand effectively turns it into a “ghost train,” allowing last-minute travelers to easily book seats for the following day.

Despite the initially low occupancy on the train, railway authorities remained hopeful that ridership would increase over time. To boost awareness and attract more passengers, they promoted the service through advertisements and social media. However, as occupancy has continued to stay low, they are now considering making adjustments to improve the situation.

Aman Mittal, the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (SrDCM) of Nagpur Central Railways, acknowledged the low passenger turnout and shared that they’ve proposed reviewing the train’s operations, which may include reducing the number of coaches. He noted that this particular Vande Bharat Express has 20 coaches, making it the longest in the fleet, whereas other Vande Bharat trains typically operate with only 8 coaches.

Mittal observed that demand for the premium chair car service is quite low on this route. To address this, railway authorities are looking into adjusting the train’s schedule to better align with passengers’ preferences, with the hope that this change could help boost ridership.

The Vande Bharat train between Secunderabad and Nagpur is seeing low ridership because passengers have plenty of alternatives. With 31 other trains already available on this route, including popular options like the Rajdhani and Duronto Express, there are ample seating choices on these other trains, which reduces demand for the Vande Bharat service in both directions.

Although the Vande Bharat Express was launched with great expectations, it’s struggling with low demand due to competition from other trains. The railway administration hopes that changes to its setup and schedule might boost ridership, but for now, the train is operating with many empty seats.