First overnight Vande Bharat train to operate between Chennai and Bengaluru from Nov 21
Normally, trains running at night have sleeper and AC coaches; a decision on running further Vande Bharat night trains will depend on commuter response
For the first time, a Vande Bharat train, which has no sleeper coaches, will run from Chennai to Bengaluru at night in a bid to clear the holiday rush of passengers.
The eight-coach semi high-speed express will depart from Chennai Central at 11 pm on Tuesday (November 21) and reach SMVT Bengaluru at 4.30 am on Wednesday (November 22).
The train will take 5.30 hours to connect the capital cities of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Another Vande Bharat special will run from Bengaluru to Chennai Central on November 20. This will leave Bengaluru at 5.15 pm and reach Chennai at 10 pm.
All 34 existing Vande Bharat trains run during the day. But Southern Railway officials said the overnight service was being run to check the reaction of passengers.
The SR last week ran four special services of Vande Bharat trains between Chennai, Egmore and Tirunelveli to cater to the Deepavali crowds.
“Our Chennai-Tirunelveli special trains had very high patronage and we wanted to check the reaction of the passengers for a sitting train during the night,” a railway told the media.
Night trains
Normally, trains which operate at night have sleeper and AC coaches.
According to the official, a decision on running further Vande Bharat night trains will depend on the commuter response.
Presently, one Vande Bharat, two Shatabdi Express, one double-decker and two express trains link Chennai and Bengaluru during the day.
