Train No. 20646, Mangaluru Central-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express departing on September 30, 2026. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the train will be extended to Yesvantpur in Bengaluru to run as Yesvantpur-Madgaon-Yesvantpur Vande Bharat Express via Mangaluru Junction.
| Photo Credit: ANIL KUMAR SASTRY
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on September 29 revealed that the Ministry will introduce a Vande Bharat Express between Yesvantpur in Bengaluru and Madgaon in Goa via Mangaluru Junction, connecting coastal Karnataka with the State capital.
In letters to coastal Karnataka MPs Captain Brijesh Chowta, Kota Srinivas Poojary, and Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Mr. Vaishnaw said that the existing Train No. 20646/645 Mangaluru Central – Madgaon – Mangaluru Central VB Express will be extended to Yeshwantpur in Bengaluru. The extended service would run with new numbers — Train No. 26655/656 Yesvantpur – Madgaon – Yesvantpur Vande Bharat Express via Mangaluru Junction with revised timings, the Minister said.
The Railway Ministry successfully conducted the runtime trial of the VB Express with a 16-car coach on September 10 between Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur covering the distance in 7.05 hours and 6.49 hours in the down and up directions respectively. On the other hand, the Mangaluru Central – Madgaon – Mangaluru Central VB Express was operational since December 31, 2023, covering the distance with about 5.30 hours.
Tentative timetable
While the Ministry was yet to officially announce the public timetable for the proposed Yeshwantpur-Madgaon-Yeshwantpur VB Express, sources said that the Yeshwantpur-Madgaon VB Express (26655) was likely to depart Yeshwantpur at 6.05 am to reach Madgaon at 7.15 pm with commercial halts at Shravanabelagola, Hassan, Sakleshpur, Subrahmanya Road, Kabaka Puttur, Mangaluru Junction, Udupi, Kundapura, Byndoor, Murdeshwar, Gokarna Road and Karwar.
The Madgaon-Yeshwantpur VB Express (26656) was likely to depart Madgaon at 5.30 am to reach Yeshwantpur at 6.40 am on the same route taken by Train No. 26655. Sources said that the Railways would require two VB rakes, mostly 8-car ones to operate the new services. New 8-car rakes were now coming with inbuilt automatic emergency braking (AEB) system, a pre-condition to operate the trains on the Sakleshpur-Sburahmanya Road Ghat section, with the speed being capped at 30 kmph.
Reduce running hours
Patrons however want the Railways to reduce the running hours, from the proposed about 13 hours to at least 11 hours so as to offer maximum benefits to passengers. The existing Yeshwantpur-Karwar tri weekly express (16515) takes about 16 hours to travel the 610 km distance at an average speed of 38 km while the Karwar-Yeshwantpur tri weekly express (16516) about 15 hours to traverse the distance with an average speed of 40 kmph.
Published – September 30, 2026 01:06 pm IST
