·The first trip of SC – TPTY Vande Bharat Express with 16 coaches witnesses 109% patronage from rail passengers
·From today, the train will have 16 coaches and complete the journey in 15 minutes lesser time than before
Reflecting the huge popularity of the Secunderabad – Tirupati – Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express, the first trip of the train with double the number of coaches (from earlier position) has seen spontaneous response from rail passengers. Today, i.e., 17thMay 2023, the first trip of the Secunderabad – Tirupati Vande Bharat Express has begun its journey with 109% patronage.
Since, the introduction of the Secunderabad – Tirupati – Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express, the train has seen huge response from the passengers. This was reflected in the consistent high patronage (more than 130%) of the train in both directions. Accordingly, keeping in view the demand from the passengers, Indian Railways has doubled the number of coaches in the train from the earlier composition of 8 coaches to 16 coaches from today i.e., 17th May 2023.
The seating capacity of the train accordingly from 17th May 2023 is more than double from 530 to 1,128 seats. This includes 104 seats in Executive Class and another 1,024 seats in Chair Car. Inspite of this, reflecting the popularity of the train, the first trip of today’s train has seen 1,228 passengers making their train booking before the start of the train journey.
To further enhance the comfort of the rail passengers, South Central Railway has also reduced the travel time of the journey in each direction by 15 minutes from today. As a result, the journey in either direction will now be covered in 8 hrs 15 minutes, instead of the earlier duration of 8 hrs 30 minutes. This will further help in rail passengers to reach their destination in faster time period.
The Secunderabad – Tirupati – Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express train provides a unique opportunity to the rail passengers in the two Telugu states to visit the temple of Lord Venkateswara in a faster and more comfortable manner. The indigenously developed train has several world-class features like GPS based Passenger Information System, automatic sliding doors, reclining seats, CCTV cameras in all coaches, diffused LED lighting, charging points beneath every seat etc., which provide better riding comfort and more safety features.
Shri Arun Kumar Jain, General Manager, South Central Railway has said that the addition of the coaches will help the Zone in meeting the travel demands of more number of rail passengers. He also said that, it will give opportunity for greater number of people to avail the services of India’s indigenous semi-high speed train. He said that, meeting the demands of the rail passengers is the top priority of railways, and all efforts will be continued for meeting the aspirations of the rail passengers. 
