BENGALURU: With Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal at Byappanahalli ready for inauguration and the railways planning Vande Bharat Express on major routes across the country, rail activists want a dedicated Bengaluru-Mumbai premium train with limited stoppages and running time below 19 hours.
Bengaluru to Mumbai is 984km by road, a distance covered in 15-17 hours. But there is only one direct daily train between the country’s finance and tech capitals: Udyan Express, which takes around 23 hours and 35 minutes to cover 1,134km (33 stations) at an average speed of 48.2kmph.
There are no premium trains like Duronto running between the two cities. Though there are some trains passing through Bengaluru and Mumbai, general reservation quota for Bengaluru is less (20-25 seats each) and hence it’s difficult to get confirmed tickets on these.
Responding to an RTI application filed by TOI on the plan to introduce premium trains like Vande Bharat between these two cities, the railway board said: “At present, no such proposals are under consideration in this office. Besides, introduction of the train (Vande Bharat) is an ongoing process of Indian Railways subject to availability of resources, operational feasibility and commercial justification etc.”
Udyan Express is one of the slowest express trains in the country. Sanjeev Dyamannavar, a rail activist, said, “If the flight journey is only one and a half hours and bus takes only 16 hours, who will take Udyan Express that takes almost around 24 hours? Timings of Udyan Express are not suitable for most passengers as it reaches Mumbai only by evening.”
“It’s unfortunate that there is only one direct train between Bengaluru and Mumbai. Work on doubling, electrification and elimination of level crossings of most sections between Bengaluru and Pune has been completed, but there is no reduction in running time of trains. We suspect there is pressure from airlines and bus lobbies, which is stopping the railways from running more trains between these two cities,” added Dyamannavar.
Aneesh Hegde, chief public relations officer, SWR, said: “We could run Vande Bharat Express only after electrification of the entire route between Mumbai and Bengaluru, which will be completed by 2023-end. Doubling work of various sections along the route is also in progress to ease capacity constraints to run more trains between these two cities.”
