The Vande Bharat sleeper train has achieved a peak speed of 180 km per hour in multiple trials over the last three days on a 40-km stretch in Rajasthan, the Railway Ministry said on Friday.
"The trails will continue until this month's end before this world-class long-distance travel is made available to the rail commuters across the nation," it said in a press statement.
The ministry also highlighted a recent video shared by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on X.
"The video shows a nearly full-to-brim glass of water adjacent to a mobile on a plain surface inside a Vande Bharat sleeper train. The water level remaining static can be seen in the video as the moving train achieves near constant peak speed of 180 km per hour exhibiting the element of comfort in the high-speed rail travel," the ministry said.
"The post came after 3 days of successful trials, which concluded on 2nd January, in which a Vande Bharat sleeper train in its loaded condition touched the peak speed," it added.
According to the ministry, on January 2, during a 30-km run between Kota and Laban in Bundi district of Rajasthan, the train reached a peak speed of 180 km per hour.
"A day earlier, i.e. on the first day of 2025, in a 40 km long trial run between Rohal Khurd to Kota, Vande Bharat sleeper train touched the peak of 180 km per hour, the press note said.
"On the same day, peaks of 170 km/hr & 160km/hr were achieved on Kota-Nagda & Rohal Khurd-Chau Mahla sections. These trials will continue for the month of January under the supervision of RDSO, Lucknow," it added.
Once these trials are over, the train will be evaluated by the Railway Safety Commissioner at the maximum speed and only after passing the final stage, it will be officially certified and handed over to Indian Railways for induction and regular services.
The ministry stated that Vande Bharat sleeper trains are designed with features like automatic doors, ultra-comfortable berths, onboard WiFi and an aircraft-like design.
"With these successful trials, rail commuters can hope for a world-class travel experience in long-distance travel like Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Delhi to Mumbai, Howrah to Chennai and many other routes also," the ministry said.