Daily direct express train to Bengaluru continues to elude Vizag despite ‘overwhelming’ patronage

The Visakhapatnam–Bengaluru special train, which has been running with overwhelming patronage for over a decade, has not been extended after its last run in June this year, contrary to the Union Railway Minister’s assurances on regularisation of this service.

“The Visakhapatnam–Bengaluru special train, despite running with 130% occupancy, got cancelled. It was operated to different terminals in Bengaluru such as Krishnarajapuram, Yesvantpur, Banaswada and Yelahanka, over the years,” recalls Bhaskar, a frequent traveller.

While the Visakhapatnam-Charlapalli special train and the Visakhapatnam-Tirupati special train were given ‘periodicity extension’, the Bengaluru special was not extended after its last run on June 30. The benefit of periodicity extension is that the train will run on the same days, same timing, same composition and same route, says Daniel Joseph, a rail activist from the city.

A total of six pairs of trains (12) are bypassing Visakhapatnam Junction and they include 22831 Howrah-Yesvantpur SF Express, 12552 Kamakhya – SMVT Bengaluru AC Express, 12245 Howrah – SMVT Duronto, 22863 Howrah – SMVT AC Express. These four trains should be rerouted through Visakhapatnam Junction, opines Mr. Daniel.

An NSG-1 category railway station, Visakhapatnam Junction is the number one among the top 20 railway stations under the purview of the East Coast Railway (ECoR).

The station had registered a total footfall of 2,77,11,147 passengers between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, with the total earnings of ₹546,14,98,961.

Train no. 08543 Visakhapatnam–SMVT Bengaluru SF Special had an average occupancy of 142.11% for the period between April 1 and December 31, 2024, according to a response to an RTI query filed by Kanchumurthi Eswar from Visakahaptnam.

In all, 12 long-distance express trains to various destinations are bypassing the main station in Visakhapatnam. There has been a long-pending demand for re-routing of these trains through the Visakhapatnam Junction. But, unlike in other major cities, there are no local trains for the convenience of passengers alighting at the satellite stations such as Duvvada and Pendurthi to reach the main station.

Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy had written to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in March 2022 on the need to start a daily train from Visakhapatnam to Bengaluru via Vijayawada and Tirupati.

He recalled that Prasanthi Express, originating from Visakhaptanam, was extended to Bhubaneswar, which resulted in the curtailment of its allocated reservation quota.

A daily express train to Bengaluru with departure from Visakhapatnam at 2.40 p.m. and arrival at Bengaluru at 8.30 a.m. and in the return direction, it should depart from Bengaluru at 4.30 p.m. and arrive in Visakhapatnam at 10.30 a.m. for the convenience of the IT employees from the region who are living in Bengaluru, opines Mr. Bhaskar.