Railway Minister flags off Bengaluru-Mumbai Vande Bharat Sleeper Express

Bengaluru, Nov 1 (PTI) Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday flagged off the inaugural run of the Vande Bharat Sleeper Express connecting Bengaluru and Mumbai, strengthening overnight rail connectivity between the two major metropolitan cities.

He also announced that the next Vande Bharat Sleeper train for Karnataka will originate from Bengaluru, connect various parts of North Karnataka towards Hubballi and then proceed towards Pune and Mumbai.

Officials said the inaugural special train, comprising a 16-coach Vande Bharat Sleeper rake that departed from Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal (SMVT), Bengaluru, is scheduled to reach Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Mumbai, at 6.15 am on Monday.

Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, H D Kumaraswamy, Ministers of State V Somanna and Shobha Karandlaje, Members of Parliament Tejasvi Surya, P C Mohan and C N Manjunath, among others were present.

The South Western Railway said while the train's regular services will commence from November 2 in the Mumbai-Bengaluru direction and November 3 in the return direction.

Train No. 27652 from Bengaluru to Mumbai will operate six days a week, except Mondays. It will depart SMVT Bengaluru at 7.45 pm and reach CSMT Mumbai at 11.55 am the following day.

In the return direction, Train No. 27651 will depart CSMT Mumbai at 8.10 pm and arrive at SMVT Bengaluru at noon the next day. The service will operate six days a week, except Tuesdays.

"Today, the Vande Bharat Sleeper will connect Bengaluru, the IT and startup capital, with Mumbai, the financial capital. I extend my heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to all the MPs, ministers, party workers, people of Karnataka and Railway officials and staff for this," Vaishnaw said, while addressing the gathering.

He said the train will depart from Bengaluru, travel through Anantapur and Guntakal in Andhra Pradesh, and then re-enter Karnataka, covering Raichur, Yadgir and Kalaburagi. It will subsequently travel through Solapur, Pune and Kalyan in Maharashtra before reaching Mumbai.

"The train will cover several parts of North Karnataka, which were earlier uncovered by good, world-class train connectivity. The route was finalised unanimously after consultations with Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, Somanna and Kumaraswamy, among others," he added.

Pointing out that Pralhad Joshi and the MPs from Bengaluru have repeatedly raised a demand, the Railway Minister said, "I am announcing that the next Vande Bharat Sleeper train for Karnataka will originate from Bengaluru, connect various parts of North Karnataka towards Hubballi and then proceed towards Pune and Mumbai."

Later speaking to reporters, Vaishnaw said India will begin exporting Vande Bharat trains within the coming years.

"With every version of the Vande Bharat train we are improving. Each time we manufacture a new version, we make improvements based on learnings from the previous versions. Today, we are in a position where the Vande Bharat trains, whether the chaircars or the sleepers, are reaching a level where we are already exporting the propulsion and the bogies, which are the most technologically complex systems from the Vande Bharat design.

We have already started exporting to Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, and the U.S., and in the coming years we will start exporting the full train also," he said.

He said the Prime Minister's call to "Make in India" and Viksit Bharat is fully realized in this Vande Bharat sleeper train and in the Vande Bharat chaircar as well, adding, "Practically the entire design is done by our own engineers, and the entire manufacturing is done in India."

The inaugural special train also had stoppages at Hindupur, Dharmavaram and Lonavala, in addition to the stations covered by the regular service.

The composition of the 16-coach rake includes eight motor car and four trailer car coaches.

The South Western Railway said the new service is expected to provide passengers with a comfortable overnight travel option while improving connectivity between Karnataka and Maharashtra.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)