Here's what it's like to ride India's sleek new sleeper train

The first sleeper in India's semi-high-speed Vande Bharat fleet is drawing crowds, selfies and intense curiosity – but what is it actually like on board?

Lightning flashed above Kolkata's Howrah Junction station as rain lashed platform six. The waiting passengers barely seemed to notice, however, as they jostled and angled their phones to get selfies next to the sleek orange, black and grey nose of Indian Railways' newest object of fascination: the Vande Bharat Express sleeper train.

Launched in January 2026, this is the first sleeper in the Vande Bharat semi-high-speed fleet, a train series that has become a point of national pride since services began in 2019. Clips of the sleeper's first journeys quickly went viral – and when I visited Kolkata, three months later, the excitement had hardly dimmed, with the train's 823 berths still selling out weeks in advance.

Vande Bharat means "Salute to India" in Sanskrit. Designed and built in India, the fleet has been promoted as a cleaner, more modern upgrade from the country's older long-distance stock, featuring aerodynamic noses, sliding automatic doors and comfortable interiors. The Times of India called the sleeper carriages "stunning" and "swanky" – words not usually associated with Indian long-distance trains – and Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged many of the Vande Bharat trains off in-person, stoking public intrigue and helping turn them into a symbol of Indian ambition.

Tickets for the full Kolkata-Guwahati route cost around 2,400 rupees (£19) for third-class, where six berths share each open-plan compartment. It's around 3,100 rupees (£25) in second-class, where four berths sit behind curtains; and about 3,800 rupees (£30) for a first-class berth, shared with three others in a closed-off cabin.

The new sleeper service runs six times a week in each direction between Kolkata in West Bengal and Guwahati in Assam, a 14-hour trip (down from up to 18 hours on older trains). With India's average monthly wage around 21,000 rupees (£165), even the cheapest fare is beyond the reach of many. This means the sleeper train is largely aimed at business travellers, offering a more comfortable alternative to flying between two major commerce centres.

But the route also has wider appeal. Guwahati is home to the hilltop Kamakhya Temple, one of India's most important Hindu pilgrimage sites.

And for travellers, the train stops at New Jalpaiguri Junction, a gateway to Darjeeling's famous tea fields. From Guwahati, visitors can continue to Shillong, a waterfall-dotted hill station known as the "Scotland of the East", as well as Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, where jeep safaris offer the chance to see one-horned rhinos.

Enticed by the route – and by the chance to experience this much-hyped new era of Indian sleeper train travel – I decided to try it out.

Cleaner, faster, quieter

After boarding at Howrah Junction, I was relieved to find my berth looked as clean and orderly as the footage from the Prime Minister's inspection had suggested. I had a plug socket, a reading light, USB and USB-C charging points, plus clean sheets, a blanket and pillow. I happily walked around the carriage in socks: a move that would have felt grimily unthinkable on some older Indian sleeper trains I had ridden. 

At 18:20 the train pulled out exactly on time. I shook........

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