Ernakulam-Bengaluru Vande Bharat gets 8 new coaches, flagged off by Suresh Gopi

Kochi: Union Minister Suresh Gopi flagged off the Ernakulam-KSR Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express on Monday, marking the introduction of 16 coaches on the service, up from the existing eight.

The increase in coach strength doubles the train's seating capacity on the busy Kerala-Karnataka route. The train was flagged off at 2.20 pm from Ernakulam Junction (South) railway station.

Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, Rajya Sabha MP Haris Beeran, Ernakulam MLA T J Vinod and senior railway officials, including the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), attended the function. The flag-off ceremony saw protest from BJP workers over the omission of the National Song, Vande Mataram, and the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana, from the programme.

Launched in November last year with eight coaches, the train will now operate with 14 chair car coaches and two executive chair car coaches.

The 638-km journey between Ernakulam and Bengaluru takes 8 hours and 40 minutes, making the Vande Bharat the fastest train on the route. Other trains currently take more than 11 hours to cover the same distance.

The Ernakulam-KSR Bengaluru Vande Bharat is Kerala’s third Vande Bharat service, after the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod and Mangaluru Central-Thiruvananthapuram services.

The train runs daily except Wednesday.

Timings
The train departs from KSR Bengaluru at 5.10 am and reaches Ernakulam at 1.50 pm. On its return journey, it leaves Ernakulam at 2.20 pm and reaches Bengaluru at 11 pm.

Stops
The train has seven stops between Ernakulam and Bengaluru: Thrissur, Palakkad, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem and Krishnarajapuram.

Fare
The chair car fare is ₹1,095, while an executive chair car ticket costs ₹2,289. Reservation fees, supplementary charges, catering charges and GST are additional.