Vande Bharat express can now run from Bengaluru to Mangaluru: Ashwini Vaishnaw

New Delhi: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said the completion of electrification between Sakleshpur and Subramanya Road railway route will pave way for the Vande Bharat Express between Bengaluru and Mangaluru.

“Now we will be able to run modern electric superfast train services including Vande Bharat train through this route to Mangaluru,” Vaishnaw said in a statement here.

Earlier Dakshina Kannada BJP Lok Sabha member Brijesh Chowta has urged the Minister to start Vande Bharat Express train between Bengaluru and Mangalore upon completion of the electrification of the route.

The Indian Railways completed the electrification between Sakleshpur-Subramanya Road Ghat Section of railway track on Bengaluru-Mangalore route, one of the most difficult and technically challenging terrains on the Indian Railways network, and successfully completed electric locomotive trial on 28 December 2025.

With this section electrified, the railway minister said that the entire Bengaluru-Mangaluru rail route is fully electrified.

This will improve rail connectivity, operational efficiency and sustainability in the region.

"The 55 km long railway track between Sakleshpur and Subramanya Road, is extremely complex having no approach road to the railway track. It includes a steep ruling gradient of 1 in 50, 57 tunnels, 226 bridges, and 108 sharp curves. The area is also highly prone to landslides, especially during the monsoon. Electrifying this stretch was therefore a significant engineering challenge," the the Railway Ministry said in a statement.

The electrification work began in December 2023, with the project including construction of five switching stations and full overhead electrification.

To ensure safety and reliability, the maximum distance between traction poles was kept at 67.5 metres.

“In the 57 tunnels, 427 main brackets and 427 spare brackets were installed. Detailed geological studies were carried out with support from the National Institute of Rock Mechanics and Bangalore University. To ensure long-term safety, pull-out tests were conducted at every bracket location to check anchoring strength,” the statement said.

In many locations, material had to be transported by rail to reach remote and inaccessible sites.

Strict safety measures were followed during the entire project. The work was carried out with meticulous planning because of steep gradients, while ensuring safe and uninterrupted train operations throughout the project period.

The electrification of the vital ghat section will also strengthen economic and commercial linkages between Bengaluru, the country’s IT capital and the port city of Mangaluru, as well as other coastal commercial centres, the railway minister said.

Indian Railways has already electrified more than 99 per cent of its Broad Gauge network.

Since 2014, over 46,900 route kilometres have been electrified, compared to 21,801 route kilometres in the nearly six decades before 2014.

Between 2019 and 2025 alone, around 33,000 route kilometres were electrified, almost equal to the entire railway network of Germany.