Yeshwantpur-Madgaon Vande Bharat runs slower than passenger train between Subrahmanya Road, Mangaluru Junction

Amid their happiness over the introduction of Vande Bharat Express connecting Bengaluru with coastal Karnataka, patrons are worried over the longer running hours of the premium train and feel the time can be curtailed at least by an hour from the proposed 13 hours on both the directions.

The Yeshwantpur-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express (Train No. 26655) is slower to Subrahmanya Road-Mangaluru Central Passenger between Subrahmanya Road and Mangaluru Junction railway stations. While the Vande Bharat with one stop in between takes 2.23 hours to traverse the 86 km stretch, the Subrahmanya Road-Mangaluru Central passenger with 8 halts in between takes 1.52 hours in the morning trip, 2.10 hours in the afternoon trip and 1.45 hours in the night trip.

In the return direction, Madgaon-Yeshwantpur Vande Bharat (Train No. 26656) takes 1.28 hours between Mangaluru Junction and Subrahmanya Road railway stations. However, this service takes a whopping three hours to traverse 174 km between Hassan and Yeshwantpur (6.15 pm-9.15 pm) with one halt as against 2.33 hours taken by Karwar-Bengaluru Panchaganga Express with two halts.

Slower to existing VB

While the existing Mangaluru Central-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express takes 4.28 hours to traverse 313 km with two halts between Mangaluru Junction-Madgaon, the Yeshwantpur-Madgaon Vande Bharat with five halts takes 5.40 hours. On the contrary, Mangaluru Junction-Mumbai CSMT Express (12134) with seven halts takes 4.40 hours for the same stretch. In the return trip too, the Madgaon-Yeshwantpur Vande Bharat with five halts takes 5.30 hours while the Madgaon-Mangaluru Central Vande Bharat takes 4.28 hours and the Nizamuddin-Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express with two halts takes 4.50 hours.

Gautam Shetty from Kundapura Railway Prayanikara Hitarakshana Samithi said that the Railways could cumulatively reduce the running hour at least by one and half hours on both the directions by eliminating unnecessary slack time.

‘Time wasted’

National Restaurant Association of India Western Karnataka Head Prashanth Rao Aroor said the service leaving Bengaluru in the morning, takes a whole day to reach Mangaluru while a car journey takes five hours. In the return trip too, it reaches Bengaluru at 9.15 pm and a hotel stay was required for anyone looking to do work.

Hassan Train Users, an online forum of patrons, said two trains were leaving Yeshwantpur early in the morning, the Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction/ Karwar tri-weekly services (7 a.m.) and the Solapur-Hassan superfast Express (7.10 a.m.). The new Vande Bharat departs at 7.35 a.m., thus back-to-back services within a short duration, it said.