North Karnataka Gets Fourth Vande Bharat Connectivity As Belagavi-Bengaluru Route Gets Railway Board Approval Amid Extension Demand

The Railway Ministry has given its nod to a new Vande Bharat Express Train (VBET) service between Belagavi and Bengaluru, marking a shift from the earlier public demand to extend the existing Dharwad-Bengaluru VBET to Belagavi, TOI reported.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi confirmed the approval, stating that the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav communicated with them on 28 April, saying that the new VBET was being planned for Belagavi-Bengaluru.

He further mentioned, “Now the plan is approved by the Railway Board. Since Bengaluru-Dharwad-Bengaluru starts from Bengaluru in the morning, it’s expected that Belagavi-Bengaluru-Belagavi will run at a contrasting time, starting from Belagavi in the morning. Vaishnav confirmed this in his letter.”

Belagavi MP Jagadish Shettar recalled that a trial run for the VBET between Belagavi and Bengaluru had already taken place in 2023. “It was deferred due to technical reasons at Londa junction,” he said.

Shettar also noted, “Though the Hubballi-Pune VBET runs on the same route, the demand for the Belagavi-Bengaluru VBET is yet to be fulfilled. We have been requesting Railway Minister Vaishnav to extend the Bengaluru-Dharwad-Bengaluru VBET to Belagavi, and he has agreed to it. However, we are unaware of the new VBET from and to Belagavi.”

In a letter dated 6 May addressed to Pralhad Joshi, Vaishnav stated that the new Belagavi-Bengaluru VBET has been approved, and the service will leave Belagavi in the morning for Bengaluru and in return, it will start from Bengaluru in the afternoon for Belagavi.

No date of commencement was mentioned in the communication.

With this addition, the North Karnataka region will now be served by four pairs of Vande Bharat Express trains, including existing services like Bengaluru-Dharwad, Hubballi-Pune, and Kalaburagi-SMVT Bengaluru, all of which reportedly maintain strong passenger occupancy.

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