Bengaluru-Goa Vande Bharat Express to begin regular services on November 15
Passengers will pay higher fares on the new service due to inflated distances on certain sections of the route.
The Yeshwantpur-Madgaon-Yeshwantpur Vande Bharat Express is set to begin regular operations on November 15, according to Moneycontrol. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw are expected to flag off the inaugural services on November 13.
The 16-coach service will connect Bengaluru with coastal Karnataka and Goa, with 12 intermediate halts including Hassan, Sakleshpur, Mangaluru Junction, Udupi, and Karwar. The journey between Bengaluru and Madgaon will take 13 hours and 20 minutes, while the return trip will take 12 hours and 55 minutes.
According to The Hindu, passengers will pay nearly ₹200 extra in chair car (CC) and about ₹300 extra in executive chair car (EC) compared to other Vande Bharat services for the same distance. This is because the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) inflates the distance by 40 per cent on its network, and South Western Railway (SWR) inflates the 55 km Ghat section between Sakleshpur and Subrahmanya Road by 100 per cent.
SWR justified the inflated distance by stating that Indian Railways follows this practice on almost all Ghat routes due to the challenges of operating in difficult terrains. KRCL stated the additional collection is due to heavy maintenance costs caused by difficult geographical conditions.
The new service will replace the existing Mangaluru Central-Madgaon-Mangaluru Central Vande Bharat Express, which will be discontinued from November 15. The regular service will operate six days a week, except Wednesdays for the onward journey and Thursdays for the return service.