Indian Railways is preparing to launch a brand new Vande Bharat Sleeper Express service connecting the national capital with the holy city of Varanasi. Railway officials are actively aiming for a prestigious debut around the upcoming Diwali and Chhath Puja festivals in 2026. While the exciting project remains in the planning stages right now, intensive trials for the semi-high-speed service are expected to begin as early as September 2026 to effectively address the massive passenger rush and heavy holiday season demand. Although no formal announcement has been made yet regarding the official train number, final fare structure, or exact launch date, the initiative is widely seen as a major milestone. Praveen Patel, Member of Parliament and member of the Zonal Railway Users' Consultative Committee for the North Central Railway, has strongly highlighted its massive potential to greatly improve passenger convenience for millions of daily commuters and tourists.
Often affectionately referred to as the younger brother of the bullet train due to its impressive semi-high-speed capabilities,
this new train is designed to reach top speeds of 160 kmph. Under the proposed schedule currently under review, the service will provide a comfortable overnight connection covering the roughly
760-kilometer distance between Varanasi Cantt and New Delhi. The planned travel route includes convenient scheduled stops in Prayagraj and Kanpur, promising an
estimated end-to-end journey time of just 7 hours and 40 minutes. According to the draft timetable, the train is projected to
depart at 9:20 pm and comfortably arrive at its destination at 5:00 am the following morning, saving precious daytime hours for travellers.
Manufactured jointly by the Integral Coach Factory and BEML, the state-of-the-art trainset will feature
16 modern coaches with a total seating and sleeping capacity of 823 passengers. The comfortable interior configuration is officially set to include
11 AC 3-tier coaches, four AC 2-tier coaches, and one luxurious First AC coach to cater to diverse travel budgets. Officials confirm that
Northern Railway is expected to oversee the primary maintenance of the new fleet. This highly anticipated service directly follows the successful launch of India's very first Vande Bharat Sleeper route, which officially began commercial operations between Howrah and Kamakhya on January 22, 2026.
