Mumbai-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Sleeper begins service; to operate 6 days a week

South India's first Vande Bharat Sleeper, the Mumbai-Bengaluru service (27651/27652), was flagged off on Sunday. The Mumbai-Bengaluru service is from Monday, and the Bengaluru-Mumbai service is from Tuesday.

While Udyan Express, which plies the Bengaluru-Mumbai route, takes 22 hours to reach the destination at its 52km/hour speed, the Vande Bharat Sleeper will take only 6 hours and 10 minutes to cover the 118 km. The train has 16 coaches and 823 berths. A third AC ticket costs ₹2,684, second AC is ₹3,466 and first AC costs ₹4,250.

Days of service, timings, stations
The train will be in service 6 days a week, except for Mondays, from Bengaluru. Similarly, there will be no service from Mumbai on Tuesdays. It leaves SMVT Bengaluru at 7.45 pm and reaches Mumbai the next day at 11.55 am. It departs from Mumbai at 8.10 pm and reaches Bengaluru the next day at 12. Its other stations are Dharmavara, Anantpur, Gundakkal, Raichur, Yadgir, Wadi, Kaliburagi, Solapur, Pune and Kalyan.

The menu of the Vande Bharat sleeper
Regional cuisine dominates the menu of the Vande Bharat Sleeper. For breakfast, passengers get to choose morning tea, idli and sambar, masala pohna, keshari bhath, veg cutlets and omelettes. For dinner, steamed rice, lemon rice, chapathi or paratha, sambar, paneer, chicken and dal tadka are offered. The accompaniments include buttermilk, packed curd and sweets.