Dignitaries stand beside a Vande Bharat train during the launch programme at SMVT Bengaluru. Photo: South Western Railway.
Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Bengaluru–Mangaluru–Madgaon Vande Bharat Express by video conference from the IIM Bangalore auditorium on November 13. He also inaugurated four redeveloped railway stations in Karnataka and dedicated track doubling and electrification works, South Western Railway said.
Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Sakleshpur and Subrahmanya Road stations were redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Modi dedicated the 45-km doubled section between Bagalkot and Wandal and the electrification of the Sakleshpur–Subrahmanya Road ghat section. The ghat work completes electrification of the Bengaluru–Mangaluru rail route, the Prime Minister’s Office said in its project briefing.
South Western Railway held a parallel programme at Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal in Bengaluru, where attendees watched the flag-off and dedication. Union ministers V. Somanna and Shobha Karandlaje, MPs P.C. Mohan, Lahar Singh Siroya and Jaggesh, legislators S. Raghu and Munirathna, Railway Board Chairman and CEO Satish Kumar and Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Ashutosh Kumar Singh attended.
Somanna said the coastal service met a longstanding demand. He cited a ₹2.93 lakh crore railway budget allocation for 2026–27 and said projects worth ₹52,000 crore were under way in Karnataka. He said a Bengaluru–Pune high-speed corridor would be taken up in addition to seven proposed corridors. He also pointed to the ₹270 crore Vande Bharat depot under construction in Thanisandra.
Karandlaje said the coastal train would help tourism, education, trade and industry. Mohan said the new service would take about seven hours to reach Mangaluru. He cited a 16-hour journey on the Bengaluru–Mumbai Vande Bharat sleeper and said the ₹480 crore upgrade of Bengaluru Cantonment station was expected to finish in the coming months.
Railway Board and Bengaluru division officials also spoke at the SMVT programme. The railway presented prizes for essay and drawing contests on Viksit Bharat @ 2047 and the modernisation of Indian Railways. The railway said the service would benefit passengers in Bengaluru, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and South Goa.
Regular service is scheduled to begin on November 15. Read the Yesvantpur–Madgaon Vande Bharat timetable.
About the Author
Atul Chaturvedi 
