Karnataka’s Second High-Speed Train: Bengaluru-Hubballi Vande Bharat Begins Trial Run, Launch in June-End

The trial run of the Bengaluru-Hubballi-Dharwad Vande Bharat started on Monday, and the train is expected to be launched sometime in June-end, officials aware of the development told News18.

While Bengaluru is connected with the Vande Bharat, operational between Chennai Central and Mysuru, the new train will be the first dedicated semi-high speed train for the IT city.

“The trial run of the Vande Bharat started at 5.45 am from Bengaluru. The train will cover the nearly 500 km distance in around six hours,” a ministry official told News18.

In the trial run, the train had stoppages at Yesvantpur, Davangere, Hubballi as it started from Bengaluru and ended at Dharwad at 12.40 pm. On its way back, the train started from Dharwad at around 1.15 pm and is expected to reach Bengaluru at 8.10 pm, the official added. The timings for the commercial run may differ from the trial run, they added.

So far, Rani Chennamma was the fastest train that used to take around seven hours between Bengaluru and Hubballi.

This is an eight-coach Vande Bharat train that reached Bengaluru last week. This will be the second Vande Bharat for Karnataka after the Chennai-Mysuru semi-high speed train.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate at least five pairs of Vande Bharat trains in the last week of June. Apart from the one between Bengaluru and Hubballi, the other set of trains are Mumbai-Goa, Patna-Ranchi, Bhopal-Indore and Bhopal-Jabalpur.

So far, the trial runs of the Mumbai-Goa and Patna-Ranchi and Bengaluru-Hubballi have been completed

At present, 18 pairs – 36 services – of Vande Bharat trains are operational across India. Six trains are from Delhi and three from Mumbai.

The national capital is connected with Dehradun, Ajmer, Varanasi, Katra, Bhopal, and Amb Andaura with these semi-high-speed trains. Further, Mumbai is connected with Gandhinagar, Shirdi and Solapur.

Two pairs of Vande Bharat trains are operating from Chennai for Mysuru and Coimbatore. Vande Bharat is also operational on the Bilaspur-Nagpur, Howrah-New Jalpaiguri, Secunderabad-Tirupati, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod, Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri and Puri-Howrah routes.

After missing the deadline set for the last financial year, the railway ministry has geared up for the production and delivery of these semi-high speed trains. Since April 1, at least eight pairs of Vande Bharat trains have already been inaugurated.