Congress leader Selja demands two new Vande Bharat trains for Haryana

During the discussion on demands for grants under the Ministry of Railways for 2025-26 in Parliament on Monday, Congress leader Kumari Selja demanded two new trains for Haryana.

"For Haryana, there is a demand for two Vande Bharat trains. One should be started from Delhi to Bikaner and another between Chandigarh and Sirsa via Bathinda," Selja said in Lok Sabha.

Vande Bharat Express is a semi-high-speed train developed by Indian Railways for faster, comfortable, and modern travel. The trains are equipped with top-tier amenities and advanced safety features such as Kavach technology, 360-degree rotating seats, accessible toilets for Divyangjan and integrated Braille signages, among many others. Notably, as of March 2025, 66 Vande Bharat trains are in service in the country, which includes 16 sixteen-car services, seven twenty-car services and 43 eight-car services.

The Sirsa MP, during the discussion in Parliament, drew the Railway Minister's attention towards the misutilisation of railway land which is being given on lease of 99 years.

"I would like to mention Sirsa, where Railway land was given at mere Rs 32 crore, which was further given at Rs 300 crore. Could we have not utilised it in some other way. You could have opened a training centre so that the youth could have been employed," Selja said.

She questioned the Central Government's motive behind giving such expensive property at extremely low prices. "Railway property is such an expensive property. After Defence, the Railways is the biggest landowner in the country. Why are you giving such lands," the MP said.

The Haryana Congress leader also flagged multiple projects of railways which have found a mention in the Budget but there has been no progress towards their completion. "Out of 14, six are already in your list but there has been no progress," she said.