Indian Railways introduced a total of 62 Vande Bharat train services in the calendar year 2024 and also the first Namo Bharat Rapid Rail between Ahmedabad and Bhuj was introduced on September 17, 2024.

According to Indian Railways, as on 26th December, a total of 136 Vande Bharat train services are running across its network.

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During the said period, four Amrit Bharat Express train services have been introduced and more are being planned for further introduction. Amrit Bharat services, which are fully non-AC trains, presently comprising 12 sleeper class coaches and eight general class coaches, are providing high quality services to the passengers, it said.

The Railways informed that it operated a record number of special train services this year.

“To cater to Holi and Summer rush, a total of 13,523 trips of special trains were operated in comparison to 6,896 during the previous year. During Pooja/Deepawali/Chhath, 7,990 trips of Special trains have also been operated between the period 1st October, 2024 and 30th November, 2024,” it said.

Mentioning Bharat Gaurav’ tourist trains, which are theme-based tourist circuit trains that aim to showcase the country’s rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places, the Railways said a total of 1,04077 number of passengers travelled between January to December. The total number of trips stood at 158.

Giving an update on the bullet train project, it said more than 243 km of viaduct construction has been completed under the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project, along with 352 km of pier work and 362 km of pier foundation work.

“Track construction in Gujarat is progressing rapidly, with RC (Reinforced Concrete) Track Bed construction underway in Anand, Vadodara, Surat, and Navsari districts. 71 track km of RC track bed construction has been completed, and welding of rails has commenced on the viaduct,” the Railways said.

In Maharashtra, the first concrete base-slab for the Mumbai Bullet Train Station has been successfully cast at a depth of 32 metres, equivalent to a 10-storey building.

The work on the 21 km tunnel between Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Shilphata is underway, with an Intermediate Tunnel (ADIT) of 394 metres completed to facilitate main tunnel construction, it said.

On the rail network under Kavach, the Railways said based on deployment of Kavach version 3.2 on 1465 RKm on South Central Railway, a lot of experience was gained.

Using that further improvements were made. Finally, Kavach specification version 4.0 was approved by RDSO on 16.07.2024.

Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. It is a highly technology intensive system, which requires safety certification of the highest order (SIL-4).

More than 9,000 technicians, operators and engineers have been trained on Kavach technology, it said.

In between January to November, the revenue earning freight loading on Indian Railways has been 1473.05 MT, recording a growth of 3.86 per cent over the corresponding period of last year, it added.

The Railways also informed that 3,210 Rkms has been electrified during the calendar year, and the electrified and BG network of it has been extended to 97 per cent.

The railways achieved 6,450 km of complete track renewal, 8,550 turnout renewals, and raised speeds to 130 kmph over 2,000 km in 2024.

Mentioning the ‘Amrit Bharat Station Scheme’, 1,337 stations have been identified for redevelopment, it said.