Bengaluru-Ernakulam Vande Bharat: Christmas-New Year tickets sold out; single rake falls short

Bengaluru: KSR Bengaluru-Ernakulam Vande Bharat Express has been completely booked ahead of the festival season in December. As tickets are entirely sold out, even with 24 days until Christmas, passengers have been urging the authorities to increase the number of coaches from 8 to 16. The bookings have even exceeded the waiting list limit, and passengers are not able to book tickets for December 20 and 25. The waitlist for the chair car from December 20-30 has already exceeded 100. 

Meanwhile, bookings for the return services on December 28 and January 4 from Ernakulam have also been stopped. The tickets in the Bengaluru-Ernakulam Vande Bharat Express have always been completely booked since the train started its regular service on November 11. The KSR Bengaluru – Vande Bharat Express (26651), which departs at 5.10 am, reaches Ernakulam Junction by 1.50 pm. Meanwhile, the Ernakulam – Bengaluru Vande Bharat (26652) starts at 2.20 pm and reaches the destination at 11 pm. This is a daily service except on Wednesdays. 

Tickets for 600
The service operates with a single rake comprising seven chair cars and one executive chair car. Only up to 600 passengers can travel in this train at a time. If the number of coaches is increased to 16, then up to 1200 passengers can travel on one side. This train under the South Eastern Railways is also the one that earns the most among the Vande Bharat trains. 

Air ticket rate soars
The airfare too has skyrocketed, anticipating the Christmas–New Year rush. The air tickets from Bengaluru to Kochi cost ₹15000 – 19000, ₹11000 – 18000 to Thiruvananthapuram, ₹11000 – 16000 to Kozhikode and ₹10000 – 12000 to Kannur, between December 20 and the first week of January.