The Bengaluru-Mangaluru-Madgaon Vande Bharat service was launched from Mangaluru Junction on Friday, creating a faster rail link between Bengaluru, coastal Karnataka and Goa. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the train and travelled on it from Mangaluru to Subrahmanya Road with elected representatives.
The service will run from Yeshwantpur and connect Bengaluru and several important stations with Madgaon over a route of about 850 kilometres. The listed stations include Hassan, Sakleshpur, Subrahmanya Road, Mangaluru, Udupi, Kundapura, Mookambika Road Byndoor, Murdeshwar, Gokarna Road and Karwar.
The railway department said the service would benefit passengers in Bengaluru, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts, as well as travellers in South Goa. The improved connection is also expected to support access to major tourism destinations along the Karnataka coast and in Goa. The report did not provide the train’s timetable, fares or frequency.
At the launch event, Vaishnaw said the Mangaluru Central station would be developed as a model station with ₹94 crore sanctioned for the work. He also referred to the challenges involved in operationally bringing railway infrastructure serving Mangaluru under a more coordinated arrangement.
MP Captain Brijesh Chowta said railway tracks serving Mangaluru had been divided among Konkan Railway, Southern Railway and South Western Railway, creating operational complexity. He said the demand to bring them under a single division had now been addressed, without specifying the administrative structure or implementation timeline in the report.
The launch was accompanied by the reopening of the Mangaluru-Subrahmanya Road passenger train, according to statements at the event. Electrification of the Subrahmanya Road-Sakleshpur section, described as a project costing about ₹100 crore, was also inaugurated. Subrahmanya Road station has been redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme at a reported cost of ₹25 crore.
The new service sits within a wider effort to improve the rail infrastructure linking the coast with the interior of Karnataka. The route passes through the Western Ghats and connects commercial centres, district headquarters, pilgrimage locations and tourism destinations, giving the service significance beyond a point-to-point connection between the three terminal regions.
Local representatives also raised the issue of the Pandeshwar railway crossing in Mangaluru. MLA Vedavyas Kamath said the railway minister had assured them that a special team would be sent from Delhi to examine the problem. The report did not provide details of the proposed intervention or a deadline for the team’s visit.
The train launch and associated works were attended by MPs Kota Srinivasa Poojary and Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, MLAs Vedavyas Kamath, Bhagirathi Murulya, Y. Bharath Shetty and Rajesh Naik Ulipaady, Legislative Council member Kishore Kumar and Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Darshan H.V., among others. The railway department’s next operational details for passengers, including the schedule and booking information, were not included in the supplied report.
