The Bengaluru-Pune bullet train route via Hubballi will be included in the second phase of India’s high-speed rail expansion, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced at Bengaluru’s Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal on Sunday. The proposed connection is part of a larger southern corridor that is expected to link Bengaluru with Hyderabad, Amaravati and Chennai.
Vaishnaw said the second phase would involve the construction of 3,000 kilometres of rail lines and that the Bengaluru-Pune route would be included. He also said approval had been received for the southern bullet train corridor, although the announcement did not provide a detailed project report, construction schedule, route alignment, station list, estimated cost or completion date.
According to the minister, the southern corridor would connect Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Amaravati and Chennai. He said the journey from Bengaluru to Chennai could take 73 minutes, while Bengaluru-Hyderabad travel could be completed in 130 minutes under the proposed high-speed rail network. These journey times were presented as part of the Centre’s wider Viksit Bharat development vision.
The announcement was made during the launch of a Bengaluru-Mumbai Vande Bharat sleeper express service from the SMVT Bengaluru station. Vaishnaw described the service as a third Vande Bharat connection between Bengaluru and Mumbai and said it would improve access for passengers in north Karnataka and other parts of the route.
The new sleeper service will stop at Anantapur, Guntakal, Raichur, Yadgir, Kalaburagi, Solapur, Pune and Kalyan. Train number 27652 will leave SMVT Bengaluru at 7.45 pm every day except Monday and reach Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus at 11.55 am the following day, covering the journey in 16 hours and five minutes. In the reverse direction, train number 27651 will depart from Mumbai at 8.10 pm every day except Tuesday and arrive in Bengaluru at 11.55 am the next day, with a scheduled travel time of 15 hours and 45 minutes.
Vaishnaw also said a second Vande Bharat sleeper service between Mumbai and Bengaluru via Hubballi would be introduced soon. He added that electrification on the Mangaluru route had been completed and that testing had concluded, with a Bengaluru-Mangaluru Vande Bharat service expected to begin within a few weeks.
The proposed Bengaluru-Pune bullet train route would add a high-speed rail connection between two major technology, manufacturing and commercial centres while bringing Hubballi into the announced corridor. However, the minister’s statement did not establish when land acquisition, detailed planning, tenders or construction would begin. The next publicly stated milestones are the planned introduction of the Hubballi-route Vande Bharat sleeper service and the start of Vande Bharat operations towards Mangaluru.
