Indian Railways’ 15-minute current booking facility has significantly boosted ridership and revenue for Vande Bharat trains across the Southern Railway zone. The zone’s fleet of Vande Bharat Express trains connects major cities across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. In FY26, Southern Railway’s 24 Vande Bharat train services carried 77.38 lakh passengers and generated revenue of Rs 803.86 crore, up from 54.12 lakh passengers and Rs 540.65 crore in FY25.
In the first two months of FY27 (April-May 2026), these semi-high-speed trains carried 15.21 lakh passengers and earned Rs 162.96 crore. Several Vande Bharat train services have recorded occupancy levels of over 100 per cent, including the Mangaluru-Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai Egmore-Nagercoil, and Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram routes. According to SN Narain, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of SR, the current booking initiative allows passengers to book vacant seats up to 15 minutes before a train’s departure from both the originating and en route stations. The Railway official added that despite consistently high occupancy, Southern Railway’s current booking initiative allows passengers to book vacant seats up to 15 minutes before a train’s departure from both the originating and en route stations, which makes it easier for last-minute travellers to secure reservations.
Southern Railway introduced the current booking facility for eight Vande Bharat trains originating in the zone on July 17, 2025. Encouraged by the results, Southern Railway has since extended the reform across the board. The concept of current-booking facility has now been implemented in all 17 Vande Bharat trains originating over Southern Railway.
Narain said the combined impact of strong passenger demand and the current booking facility has been reflected in the overall performance of Southern Railway’s Vande Bharat train services, with both ridership and revenue registering steady growth.
