Ruling Chief Minister in previous month of October wrote to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urging to extend the sem-high-speed Bengaluru- Dharwad Vande Bharat Express till Belagavi, in order to boost the connectivity between Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. The request was made after the people of Belagavi district demanded the CM to put pressure on the Centre to extend the train to the city.
Bengaluru: Vande Bharat Express, connecting Bengaluru to Hubballi and Dharwad, will now be stretched to Belagavi. The Railway Board gave the green signal to the proposal sent by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, while an official announcement was pending. According to railway officials, it is expected that this expansion will be done by the end of November. while Ahmedabad-Jamnagar Vande Bharat Express will now run up to Udhna. Till now 34 Vande Bharat Expresses have been running in the country.
Ruling Chief Minister in previous month of October wrote to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urging to extend the sem-high-speed Bengaluru- Dharwad Vande Bharat Express till Belagavi, in order to boost the connectivity between Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. The request was made after the people of Belagavi district demanded the CM to put pressure on the Centre to extend the train to the city.
Reports confirm the proposal has been approved by the Railway Board, which is expected to come into effect by the end of November. With the extension of the train till Belagavi, the timings of the train have been revamped and are likely to be released soon.
Inside information from the Railway Department suggests a plan to depart from KSR Railway Station at 5:45 am, reaching Belagavi at 1:30 pm. Its return journey from Belagavi is scheduled at 2 pm, reaching KSR Bengaluru at 10:10 pm.
Railway officials anticipate a significant reduction in travel time between these major cities due to the extension of the train. Vande Bharat Express is set to cover the distance of over 600 km in just 7 hours and 45 minutes, reducing the duration by almost two hours.
The distance between Bengaluru and Dharwad will be covered within 5:35 minutes. The train will have a commercial stoppage at Londa.
Doubling work underway
Doubling and electrification of the Dharwad–Belagavi line is near completion, except for the 8.1 km stretch between Vijayanagara–Miraj section, which will be completed shortly. Trial runs on this section are scheduled to begin next week. Although fares are uncertain, commercial operations are anticipated to begin by the end of November.
