The Vande Bharat Express is adding another member in its fleet in Karnataka as the state is all prepared to receive its 11th Vande Bharat Express, which would be connecting Bengaluru and Belagavi.
Karnataka Getting 11th Vande Bharat Express
Interestingly, this is not going to be an extension of the existing Bengaluru-Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat as reported earlier.
Contrary to this, the railways has decided to launch an entirely new service by allotting a dedicated rake for the South Western Railway (SWR) this time.
To start with, the railways will be deploying an eight-coach trainset, later on they plan to add more coaches considering the further demand as informed by the official on the condition of anonymity.
Recently, the demand for a premium train service between Bengaluru and Belagavi has been growing tremendously.
Considering this scenario, the Indian railways had initially considered extending the Dharwad train to Belagavi and conducted a trial run on November 21, 2023.
This run involved an eight-coach trainset, which can achieve a top speed of 110 kmph and covering the 610.6-km distance in 7 hours and 55 mins.
This makes it almost two hours faster than the current fastest train on the route.
Facing Opposition By Political Leaders
It appears that the proposal to extend the Dharwad train has faced opposition where political leaders argued that it would inconvenience passengers from the twin cities.
Considering this, the railways later decided to run a new train which will leave Belagavi in the morning and reach KSR Bengaluru in the afternoon.
Its return journey will commence in the afternoon and conclude late at night.
The Railways have decided to do the primary maintenance of this train in Belagavi.
This train will be stopping at Londa, Dharwad, Hubballi, Haveri, Davangere, Tumakuru and Yeshwantpur.
In the coming times, the Railway Board is expected to announce the date for the start of the commercial run and fare details.
When it comes to its fare, it is most likely be around Rs 1,500 for Chair Car and Rs 2,500 for Executive Class.
Presently, Karnataka has a total of 10 Vande Bharat Express trains, out of that five are from Bengaluru (to Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Madurai), two from Mysuru to Chennai (via Bengaluru), two from Mangaluru (to Madgaon and Thiruvananthapuram), and one from Hubballi to Pune.
