Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to launch five Vande Bharat Express trains, including one on the Bengaluru-Hubballi-Dharwad route, on June 27.
The other four Vande Bharats will run on Mumbai-Goa, Patna-Ranchi, Bhopal-Indore and Bhopal-Jabalpur routes.
South Western Railway (SWR) sources said the Vande Bharat between KSR Bengaluru City and Dharwad would likely run on all days except Tuesdays, with stoppages at Yeswantpur, Davangere and Hubballi. The average speed between Bengaluru and Dharwad (487 km) is likely to be 70.54kmph.
The travel time is expected to be 6 hours and 55 minutes. The train will leave KSR Bengaluru City at 5.45 am and reach Dharwad at 12.40 pm. The return journey will begin at 1.15 pm from Dharwad and end at Bengaluru at 8.10 pm.
Sources said an eight-car Vande Bharat train will be launched on the route. Moneycontrol on April 12 wrote about the railways' plan to deploy an eight-coach Vande Bharat on the route instead of the standard 16-car Vande Bharat train.
In April 2023, Modi inaugurated the first mini Vande Bharat train on the Chennai-Coimbatore route. It has one executive coach and a capacity to accommodate 530 passengers.
Officials said the deployment of mini Vande Bharat trains on shorter inter-city routes will allow the railways to introduce more such trains to meet the growing demand without delays.
At present, Jana Shatabdi Express (KSR Bengaluru City-Hubballi) departs from KSR Bengaluru at 6 am and reaches Hubballi at 1 pm (travel time is seven hours). On the return journey, the Jana Shatabdi train leaves Hubballi at 1.40 pm and arrives at KSR Bengaluru at 8.55 pm, taking 7 hours and 15 minutes.
A rail enthusiast said, "SWR should provide a stoppage for Vande Bharat express at Arsikere or Birur to help passengers travelling to places like Hassan and Chikkamagaluru. They should also increase the average speed of Vande Bharat to 85 kmph," he said.
SWR is expected to revise the timings of other trains like the Janashatabdi Express, the KSR Bengaluru-Hospet intercity express and the Hospet-Harihar Express.
This will be Karnataka's second Vande Bharat Express after the introduction of the Mysuru-Bengaluru-Chennai train in November 2022.
On May 31, Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi and railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw discussed the introduction of this semi-high-speed train connecting Bengaluru with the twin cities.
The upcoming Vande Bharat Express will be the first rake of the SWR. The railways is also considering introducing Vande Bharat on routes like Bengaluru-Kacheguda in Hyderabad and Bengaluru-Coimbatore.
SWR has also asked the railway board to increase the maximum speed of trains on the Bengaluru-Hubballi route from 110 kmph to 130 kmph. Once the tracks are strengthened to accommodate speeds of 130-160 kmph, trains can run at 110-120 kmph. The speed of Vande Bharat trains is capped at 130 kmph, even though they exceeded 180 kmph during trial runs.
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