Representative image
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Bengaluru: The much-anticipated "superfast" train between Bengaluru and Mumbai will take nearly 24 hours, making it slower than the existing dedicated service on the route.
The Railway Board earlier this month approved the South Western Railway's (SWR) proposal to introduce the bi-weekly service, a senior official said. However, a formal notification is still awaited, he added.
The train will cover 1,209 km in around 24 hours with 14 stoppages via Hubballi. It will have 17 LHB coaches, with primary maintenance at SMVT Bengaluru.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had announced the new service in late September in response to a request from Bangalore South MP, L S Tejasvi Surya.
Surya had said the demand for a superfast train between the two cities had been pending for 30 years. There is only one dedicated train — Udyan Express — and it takes a lot of time, he had noted.
The Udyan Express, which runs via Guntakal and Kalaburagi, covers 1,136 km in 23 hours and 35 minutes from Bengaluru to Mumbai, and 21 hours and 50 minutes in the return direction.
The railway minister's announcement had raised expectations that the "superfast" train would cut travel time to 18 hours or less, the same as bus journeys.
However, as per the time-table approved by the Railway Board, the new service will be anything but superfast.
The Bengaluru-Mumbai service will have an average speed of 50.18 km/hr and the return service 52 kmph.
The railways defines a superfast train as one with an average speed of 55 kmph or more.
Surya thanked the Railway Board for the new service, something that had not been done for about 30 years.
"Our request to the Railway Board continues to be for shorter journey time, which will greatly improve connectivity between the two cities. We will continue to seek this service request, too," he told DH.
Surya added that the train would improve connectivity with North Karnataka, with stoppages in Davangere, Hubballi, Dharwad and Belagavi. This will bring tremendous benefit to passengers in Kittur-Karnataka and facilitate economic development in the region, he said.
Bangalore Central MP, P C Mohan, said travel time should be 18 hours or less, on a par with bus journeys, with fewer stops.
"I will pursue the matter with the railways and make efforts to reduce the travel time," he told this newspaper.
KN Krishna Prasad of the Karnataka Railway Vedike criticised the timings, saying that the train would not benefit passengers much.
The schedule
The train service — 16553/16554 SMVT Bengaluru-LTT Mumbai-SMVT Bengaluru — will run twice a week.
The down service (16553) will depart from SMVT Bengaluru 8.35 pm on Saturdays and Tuesdays, and reach LTT Mumbai at 8.40 pm the next day.
The up service (16554) will depart from LTT Mumbai at 11.15 pm on Sundays and Wednesdays, and arrive at SMVT Bengaluru at 10.30 pm the next day.
The train will have 14 stoppages— four in Karnataka (Davangere, Hubballi, Dharwad and Belagavi) and 10 in Maharashtra (Miraj, Sangli, Karad, Satara, Lonand, Pune, Lonavala, Karjat, Kalyan and Thane).