Second Vande Bharat Sleeper train to run from Bengaluru to Mumbai
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the new service will travel via Hubballi to connect northern Karnataka with Pune and Mumbai.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday flagged off the Bengaluru-Mumbai Vande Bharat Sleeper Express from Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal in Bengaluru. The inaugural train departed for Mumbai at 12.15 pm. Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy and Minister of State for Railways V Somanna attended the ceremony.
Vaishnaw said a second Vande Bharat Sleeper train for Karnataka will run from Bengaluru via Hubballi to connect Pune and Mumbai. He stated this service would link all parts of northern Karnataka. Two Vande Bharat Sleeper trainsets will be used on the Bengaluru-Mumbai-Bengaluru route.
The regular service, numbered 27652, will run between SMVT Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai. It will operate six days a week, excluding Mondays. The train will stop at Anantapur, Guntakal, Raichur, Yadgir, Kalaburagi, Solapur, Pune, and Kalyan.
The Minister also announced a new Vande Bharat Chair Car service between Bengaluru and Mangaluru. He said the service would begin within the next few weeks following the completion of electrification and testing. The Railway Board had approved the Yesvantpur-Madgaon service via Mangaluru Junction on October 30.
The Yesvantpur-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express will run six days a week, except on Wednesdays. Train number 26655 will depart Yesvantpur at 07:35 hrs, while train number 26656 will leave Madgaon at 08:20 hrs on its non-Thursday operating days.