Indian Railways' Vande Bharat Sleeper Express made its first regular commercial runs between Varanasi and New Delhi on Monday, carrying fare-paying passengers on an overnight run the government says will be 55 minutes faster than the Shiv Ganga Express. The service followed the inaugural run that reached the capital early on Sunday.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw jointly flagged the train off from Varanasi on Saturday 31 October. Mr Adityanath said the service would cut Kashi–Delhi travel time by 55 minutes compared with the Shiv Ganga Express. Conventional overnight expresses on the corridor typically take 11 hours or more, according to Indian Railways timetables.

The Varanasi–New Delhi train is only the second route for the sleeper variant of the Vande Bharat, after the Howrah–Kamakhya service that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched in January 2026. The semi-high-speed trainsets were developed with the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai and built by BEML. The Ministry of Railways has said they feature automatic doors, upgraded berths, onboard fire detection and the indigenous Kavach train protection system.

The Ministry of Railways has presented the sleeper fleet as a direct challenge to short-haul aviation on busy overnight corridors. The Delhi–Varanasi corridor links the capital with one of India's most visited pilgrimage cities and has strong demand from business travellers. Northern Railway said advance bookings for the opening week were heavily subscribed, particularly in the third AC class.

The ministry has said further sleeper trainsets will enter service through 2026 and 2027, with long-distance routes from Delhi among the next candidates. Railway planners will watch occupancy and punctuality on the Varanasi route closely before committing to wider deployment. The original day-time Vande Bharat on the same corridor has run since 2019.