Bengaluru: While regular travellers continue to await the proposed Mumbai–Bengaluru Vande Bharat sleeper service, Bengaluru may soon have another such train in the pipeline.The South Coast Railway (SCoR) has formally proposed an overnight Vande Bharat (VB) sleeper service between KSR Bengaluru and Visakhapatnam, a major coastal city in South India. However, the proposal is awaiting approval from the Railway Board.According to the proposal accessed by TOI, the chief traffic planning manager of SCoR has suggested running the flagship train six days a week between the two cities. Sources stated that SCoR has already informed South Western Railway (SWR), which handles Bengaluru, and South Central Railway (SCR), which handles parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.SCoR plans to run the train through Dharmavaram, Vijayawada, Guntur, Nandyal and Gooty. The tentative plan reveals that the service from Bengaluru to Vizag will run on all days except Tuesday while the return service towards Bengaluru is expected to be run on all days except Mondays.From Bengaluru, the service is intended to depart at 8pm and is expected to reach Vizag by 10am the next day. The return service from Vizag could depart at 8.15pm and terminate in Bengaluru by 10am the next day. The train is expected to stop at Dharmavaram, Nandyal, Krishna Canal Junction and Duvvada railway stations in both directions.The service will serve the huge Andhra Pradesh diaspora who work and study in Bengaluru. Currently, trains take anywhere between 17-21 hours to complete the 1,000+ km journey between the two cities. The introduction of Vande Bharat sleeper could bring the journey time to less than 15 hours.However, due to the track infrastructure alone, the proposed average running speed is expected to be only around 75kmph. The self-propelling VB sleeper trains have a design speed of 180kmph and a maximum operational speed of 160kmph.SCoR plans to operate the service with two 20-coach rakes instead of the 16-coach rake which is currently used in India’s only active VB sleeper service running between Kolkata and Guwahati.Even the soon-to-be-flagged Bengaluru-Mumbai VB sleeper will only have two 16-coach rakes. The railways had also allocated two more 16-coach VB sleeper rakes to northern railway zone earlier in July. Currently, VB sleeper coaches are manufactured in Bengaluru by PSU Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML).Bengaluru to VizagDistance: 1,061 kmCurrent rail travel time: 17-21 hoursVande Bharat sleeper proposed travel time: <15 hoursTrain with highest avg speed between cities: SMVT Bengaluru – New Tinsukia SF Express (63 kmph)VB sleeper proposed avg speed: 75 kmph20-coach rake proposed
