Vande Bharat sleeper service between Bengaluru and Mumbai expected to start soon
THE much-awaited Vande Bharat Sleeper service between Bengaluru and Mumbai is expected to kickstart soon, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday, May 17.
Vaishnaw’s announcement was made while flagging off a new express train between Bengaluru and Mumbai.
He highlighted that the central government is fulfilling several long-pending railway demands of South and North Karnataka through accelerated infrastructure development and enhanced funding support, IANS reported.
“Long-pending demands of South and North Karnataka are now being fulfilled. Further, the Vande Bharat Sleeper service between Bengaluru and Mumbai is expected to start soon,” Vaishnaw said.
The funding for railways in Karnataka has witnessed a sharp rise in recent years, he said and added that this helps in speeding up the execution of key rail projects across the state.
Under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, 61 railway stations in Karnataka are being redeveloped at an overall cost of ₹2,160 crore. Among them, nine stations have already been completed.
This includes the Bengaluru Cantonment railway station, which is being redeveloped at an estimated cost of ₹485 crore. Also, the Yeshwantpur station is undergoing redevelopment worth ₹367 crore.
The Railway Minister further highlighted the network expansion and stated that about 1,750 km of new railway lines have been constructed in Karnataka since 2014. He added that electrification work on the challenging Hassan–Mangaluru railway section has been completed and testing is currently underway.
On the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project, he noted that the work is progressing across all four corridors. He said that land acquisition has been completed for the Baiyappanahalli–Chikkabanavara and Heelalige–Rajanukunte corridors, where station construction work is currently in progress, IANS reported.
Moreover, the Union Minister informed that the alignment for the KSR Bengaluru–Devanahalli corridor has received joint approval from the Karnataka government and the Railways, and the geotechnical surveys have already been completed. Also, the Kengeri–Whitefield corridor was recently approved and survey work is expected to begin soon.
