New Bengaluru-Vijayapura biweekly special to take 11 hours, instead of 15

Bengaluru: The newly approved Bengaluru-Vijayapura biweekly express special will run overnight and complete its journey in 11 hours, much faster than the currently existing trains.

Passengers travelling between the cities daily had long demanded an overnight train for convenience following completion of the 9.6-km doubling between Alamatti and Wandal, commissioned two months ago.

The railway ministry allocated a weekly special train on demand (TOD) along the route till June 28. Though yet to be regularised, the service will run twice a week all through June.

With other trains along the route taking close to 15 hours to complete their journey, the new train will solve this problem by bypassing Hubballi and Gadag stations, thereby reducing the journey time to 11 hours, a four-hour difference.

According to the timetable notified by South Western Railway (SWR), the express special will leave Yeshwantpur at 6.15pm Saturdays and Mondays and reach Vijayapura by 5.15am the next day. The return service will start from Vijayapura at 5pm Sundays and Tuesdays, reaching Yeshwantpur by 4.10am the following day.

The train will have 19 coaches and stop at stations such as Tumakuru, Arsikere, Davanagere, Haveri, Gadag Bypass, Badami, Bagalkot, Alamatti, and Basavana Bagewadi. The service from Yeshwantpur will begin on June 1 and the return from Vijayapura the next day.

The service is likely to benefit thousands from Vijayapura and Bagalkote districts who travel to Bengaluru for education, healthcare and business purposes.

Last month, industries and district in-charge minister MB Patil had urged the railways for a more convenient time. “The train schedule should be set in such a way that it departs from Bengaluru at 8pm and arrives in Vijayapura by 6am. Similarly, it should leave Vijayapura at 8pm and reach Bengaluru by 6am,” he had said.