Bengaluru-Dharwad 'Vande Bharat Express' train.
Credit: DH Photo/ B H Shivakumar
Bengaluru: The trial run of the Bengaluru-Belagavi Vande Bharat Express will take place on Tuesday, with an eight-coach trainset from Chennai being deployed for the service.
On Monday evening, a Vande Bharat special train (Number 06031) left Chennai and arrived at SMVT Bengaluru around 10 pm.
While the Southern Railway stated that the train is being run to clear the extra rush of passengers, it's meant to be deployed for the trial run between KSR Bengaluru and Belagavi via Hubballi-Dharwad on Tuesday.
Kusuma Hariprasad, Additional Divisional Railway Manager (Administration), Bengaluru, confirmed to DH that the trainset from Chennai would be run during the trial run.
During the trial run, the train will leave KSR Bengaluru at 5.45 am and reach Belagavi at 1.30 pm. In the return direction, it will depart from Belagavi at 2 pm and arrive at KSR Bengaluru at 10.10 pm.
Thereafter, the trainset would be run as an overnight Vande Bharat special from Yeshwantpur to Dr MGR Chennai Central. The train will leave Yeshwantpur at 11 pm on Tuesday and reach Dr MGR Chennai Central at 4.30 am on Wednesday. The one-trip service will make the train India's first-ever overnight Vande Bharat.
The South Western Railway (SWR), which will extend the Bengaluru-Dharwad Vande Bharat to Belagavi, is relying on the trainset from Chennai for the trial run.
While the Bengaluru-Dharwad Vande Bharat doesn't on Tuesdays, the SWR couldn't use that trainset for the trial run because it's required for maintenance. That also explains why a special Vande Bharat service was introduced between Bengaluru and Chennai, a railway source said.
While the SWR hasn't stated when the Bengaluru-Belagavi Vande Bharat will start its commercial operations, a railway source said that could happen within a week.
The Vande Bharat Express will take 7 hours and 45 minutes from KSR Bengaluru to Belagavi (610.6 km), more than two hours faster than the current fastest train. In the return direction, it will cover the same distance in 8 hours and 10 minutes.
Expected fare
The Chair Car fare between KSR Bengaluru and Belagavi is likely to be around Rs 1,500 and the Executive Class fare will be nearly Rs 3,000.