Rajdhani to Vande Bharat: Investor Flags India’s Slow Railway Progress
Rajdhani to Vande Bharat: Investor Flags India’s Slow Railway Progress
In 1969, India made a significant leap forward in its railway system with the introduction of the Rajdhani Express. This high-speed train propelled India to the forefront of Asian railway technology, second only to Japan in terms of train speed. However, over half a century later, there’s a growing debate about how much progress India has truly made.
1969: India launched Rajshani Express. At that time only Japan (in Asia) was ahead of India in trains crossing 100 km/hour speed.
— Rajesh Sawhney 🇮🇳 (@rajeshsawhney) April 6, 2025
2019: India launched its first Vande Bharat with maximum speed of 160 kms/hour.
We lost 50 years without any significant tech upgrade in our train… https://t.co/NH999HHJr2
The launch of the Vande Bharat Express in 2019, capable of reaching 160 km/h, is seen as a modern upgrade, but many feel it’s not enough. This sentiment is echoed by tech investor Rajesh Sawhney, who, on social media, drew a stark comparison between India’s incremental advancements and China’s rapid railway development. He said, “In 1969, India launched the Rajdhani Express. At that time, only Japan had faster trains in Asia going over 100 km/h. Then in 2019, we finally introduced the Vande Bharat with a maximum speed of 160 km/h.”
He went on to say, “Even the Vande Bharat doesn’t come close to Chinese high-speed trains, which are nearly twice as fast. Why does speed matter? Because faster trains can make double the trips between cities like Beijing and Shanghai, move twice the number of passengers daily, and cost much less to operate in terms of infrastructure.”
Sawhney emphasized that in 50 years, India has only seen a 60 km/h increase in train speed—from the Rajdhani to the Vande Bharat. In contrast, by the end of 2024, China had already modernized about 30% of its massive 162,000 km railway system, based on several news sources.
His post got a lot of attention online. One user replied,
“The thing is, China began upgrading its rail system back in 1978, while India only started doing that seriously in the 2000s. So naturally, it’ll take more time. Also, I agree with you—Vande Bharat is no match for what China has.”
Another user asked,
“Do you think we’ll actually catch up in 50 years, or will we just learn how to live with the gap?”
Someone else commented,
“India hasn’t really developed a strong manufacturing industry. We’re still lagging behind.”
And another user added,
“Why do you think all this progress only started in the last 10 years? Why didn’t it happen over the past five decades?”
