Vande Bharat Express trial run between Yeshwanthpur and Mangaluru reaching Mangaluru Central Railway Station on Saturday.
Currently, 20646/20645 Mangaluru Central–Madgaon Vande Bharat Express runs six days a week, with no service Thursdays. For Bengaluru-Mangaluru route, two trial runs using a 16-car rake were conducted in Sept, and the train took less than seven hours to complete the journey.
The train takes a little less than six hours to complete a single-direction journey, according to its timetable. Vaishnaw said the extension will make the train terminate at Yeshwantpur Junction, traversing through Kabaka Puttur and Subrahmanya Road stations. Bengaluru: Railway ministry will soon extend Mangaluru-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express to Bengaluru, meeting two long-standing demands from rail users for premium train services connecting Karnataka’s capital with Mangaluru and Goa. Though the proposal initially suggested a bypass without entering Mangaluru Central station, the plan has now been changed.
TOI has learnt that railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw wrote to two MPs from Karnataka, Brijesh Chowta and Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, earlier this month, communicating the decision to extend the train route.