On social media, news from Vande Bharat train has gone viral. While sharing the news users claim that “Modi Govt has revised the ₹58,000 crores contract for making Vande Bharat sleeper trains. A train that cost ₹290 crores earlier will now cost ₹436 crores. This is a train with ONLY AC coaches that poor cannot afford. Who is benefiting from this 50% cost increase in Vande Bharat contract?”.
Fact Check
During the investigation, DFRAC found a tweet from official X handle of ‘Ministry of Railways’ stating “Please stop spreading misinformation and fake news.We have increased the number of coaches from 16 to 24 to make longer trains, keeping the total number of coaches in contract constant. This is because there is high demand for train travel. Earlier: 200 trains X 16 coaches = 3200 Revised: 133 trains X 24 coaches = 3192. We are making record number non AC coaches (12000) looking at the high demand for railway travel.”
Furthermore, we also found a report from ‘Financial Express’. According to report “The Indian Railways has amended the Rs 58,000-crore contract for 200 Vande Bharat sleeper trains. Under the new contract, the number of coaches in each train will be increased from 16 currently to 24 while the number of trains have been reduced to 133 from 200 previously”.
Conclusion
It is evident from the DFRAC’s fact check that the claim made by social media users regarding Vande Bharat train is misleading since, Ministry of Railways has considered it a misinformation on X.
