Railways Set to Launch Vande Bharat Sleeper

The Ministry of Railways has said that focused efforts, new ideas and the use of Indian-made technology are helping transform Indian Railways into a world-class transport system. The Ministry said that after bringing comfortable travel to non-AC passengers through Amrit Bharat trains, it is now preparing to launch the first Vande Bharat Sleeper train for AC passengers soon.

As of December 26, a total of 164 Vande Bharat train services are running across the Indian Railways network. The Ministry also said that this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated 42 railway projects to the nation, inaugurated 13 projects and laid the foundation stone for 21 projects. These projects are together worth more than ₹25,000 crore.

One of the major achievements is the completion of the Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), a 272-kilometre-long project that was dedicated in 2025. The project includes 36 major tunnels and 943 bridges, showing strong engineering skills in one of the toughest terrains in the world. Another important project, the 51-kilometre Bairabi–Sairang broad-gauge railway line in Mizoram, was inaugurated in September 2025. This line connected Aizawl to the Indian railway network for the first time.

Indian Railways is also working on several large infrastructure projects to improve capacity, efficiency and sustainability. These include setting up dedicated freight corridors to reduce congestion on regular railway lines and encouraging Public-Private Partnership models to support government investment and speed up development.