Vande Bharat Express reaches one hour before time on second trial run from Bengaluru to Mangaluru on September 10

Vande Bharat Express at Mangaluru Junction on September 10, 2026. The 16-coach rake for the run time trial arrived at 1.35 pm while the scheduled time of arrival was 2.50 pm. | Photo Credit: H S Manjunath South Western Railway (SWR) conducted the second run time trial of a Vande Bharat Express rake between Bengaluru (Yesvantpur) and Mangaluru Junction on September 10. The first trial conducted on September 5 faced technical glitches resulting in a delay of about two hours in reaching Mangaluru Central.This time, officials restricted the trial till Mangaluru Junction. In the first trial, the train was operated up to Mangaluru Central. Vande Bharat Express leaving Mangaluru Junction A 16-coach rake of Vande Bharat Express leaving Mangaluru Junction for Bengaluru during the run time trial on September 10, 2026. | Video Credit: The Hindu The tentative schedule on September 10 was: Departure Yesvantpur — 6.50 am Hassan at 9.35 am Sakleshpur at 10.30 am Subrahmanya Road at 12.55 pm Kabaka Puttur at 1.36 pm Mangaluru Junction at 2.50 pm On the return trip, the trial special was scheduled to: Depart Mangaluru Junction at 3.10 pm Kabaka Puttur at 3.40 pm Subrahmanya Road at 4.40 pm Sakleshpur at 6.55 pm Hassan at 7.47 pm Yesvantpur at 10.30 pm. The train arrived at Subrahmanya Road at 12.22 pm instead of the scheduled 12.55 pm, and reached Mangaluru Junction at 1.55 pm, instead of the scheduled time of 2.50 pm.The SWR had given 8 hours running time for the journey from Bengaluru to Mangaluru Junction. The return journey was given a run time of 7.20 hours.At the same time, the HQ had told the Bengaluru and Mysuru divisions, which conducted the trial between Yesvantpur-Hassan and Hassan-Mangaluru Junction, respectively, to reduce the running time as far as possible duly following all precautionary measures.The trial run was conducted with a 2023-make 16-car Vande Bharat rake fitted with automatic emergency braking (AEB) system. Vande Bharat run time trial on September 10 A 16-coach Vande Bharat Express rake on a run time trial on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route on September 10, 2026. | Video Credit: The Hindu On September 5, the trial rake, carrying officials from the operations, mechanical, electrical, signal and telecommunications and other departments, encountered technical glitches while traversing the Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road ghat section. The overhead electric equipment was not stable in the ghat section, which caused a delay of about two hours. The trial rake arrived at Mangaluru Central at 4.25 pm instead of the scheduled time of 2.25 pm.Time taken by other trainsWhile the Bengaluru-Karwar Panchaganga Express (16595) takes 2.30 hours between Yesvantpur and Hassan with two halts en-route, the VB trial run with no stops en-route was given 2.45 minutes. If the VB could traverse the distance in about two hours, the end-to-end time could come down to seven hours.The Bengaluru-Kozhikode Express (16511) takes 9.25 hours to cover the distance from Yevantpur to Mangaluru with 10 commercial halts en-route. With the Vande Bharat Express expected to have very few stops, it is expected to take much less time for this journey Published - September 10, 2026 02:05 pm IST