I doubt on the data representing operational cost of VB . Yes , VB 1.0 was tagged as less energy efficient and technology was immediately replaced in the version 2.0.
Train sets are considered more energy efficient and are becoming norm of the rail travel around the world.
Also , IR would have priced ticket according to the energy consumption of the train set .. but VB costs only 20% more than the Shatabdi !
Data...
more... is required to verified , a detail break up would help !
IR is not fool to introduce DMUs MEMUs Vande Metros train sets for low cost operations ...