Vande Bharat demand accelerates as Indian Railways scales premium services
Indian Railways’ Vande Bharat network carried 3.98 crore passengers in FY26, up 34% year on year, while its sleeper service surpassed 100% occupancy after launching in January 2026. Profitable AC travel categories are strengthening the case for further premium-service expansion.
What happened
Indian Railways is expanding premium Vande Bharat services after AC 3-tier and chair-car categories delivered passenger profits. Network patronage rose 34% in
Key facts
- 162 Vande Bharat services
- AC 3-tier FY25 profit: Rs 3,645.44 crore
- AC Chair Car FY25 profit: Rs 376.77 crore
- FY26 Vande Bharat passengers: 3.98 crore
- FY25 Vande Bharat passengers: 2.97 crore
- FY26 passenger growth: 34% YoY
- Since 2019: over 9.1 crore passengers
- Over 1 lakh completed trips through March 2026
- New Delhi-Varanasi passengers: over 73 lakh
- Vande Bharat Sleeper: 1.21 lakh passengers across 119 trips
- Sleeper occupancy: over 100%
Why this matters
Prioritize partnerships, concessions or co-branded formats around Vande Bharat routes and premium terminals where growing passenger volumes can support differentiated retail concepts.
What to watch
- New Vande Bharat and sleeper route announcements, service-frequency additions, and coach-production targets.
- Sustained occupancy, waitlist levels, yield trends, and premium-fare elasticity after capacity increases.
- Station redevelopment awards and concession-policy changes affecting retail access and lease terms.
- Onboard catering, e-commerce delivery, baggage, and lounge-service policy liberalization.
- Short-haul airline pricing and load-factor trends on routes overlapping premium rail corridors.
- Expand premium-format food, beverage, pharmacy, convenience, and regional-gifting assortments at Vande Bharat origin and destination stations.
- Prioritize compact travel retail stores, vending, click-and-collect lockers, and late-night operating models near sleeper-service terminals.
- Build rail-specific partnerships with IRCTC, station operators, luggage brands, digital payments providers, and last-mile mobility platforms.
- Target weekend and holiday destination routes with localized promotions, pre-order meal bundles, and tourism-linked merchandising.
- Use passenger-volume growth to renegotiate station concession economics and secure high-footfall platform or concourse locations.