Ahmedabad: Over a year ago, Gujarat witnessed the launch of its first Vande Bharat Train, operating between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Presently, due to the high popularity of this service, another semi-high-speed train on the same route is in the pipeline.

The existing Vande Bharat Express, train no. 20901/20902 on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route, is currently operational, boasting an occupancy rate of over 130%, as revealed in an RTI. The Western Railway disclosed that the chair car maintains an average occupancy of 130.43%, while the executive class records an occupancy of 131.92%.

Vande Bharat is the fastest train on this route and the most comfortable one. In view of this, the Railway Board has decided to introduce another Vande Bharat Express on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route. Trials for this train are set to commence on November 10, i.e., today, after which a final decision regarding its operation will be made.

The new Ahmedabad-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express, presently under planning, may depart from Ahmedabad station for a trial run at 6:10 am, reaching Mumbai Central at 11:35 am. Its return journey from Mumbai Central will start at 3:35 pm, arriving in Ahmedabad at 9:25 pm. The train will pass through Geratpur, Vadodara, Surat, Valsad, Vapi, Virar, and Borivali, covering a distance of 491 km in 5.30 hours.

Interestingly, Railways already operates two Vande Bharat trains on the same route in Kerala. Both the blue and saffron-colored Vande Bharat trains operate from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram due to high demand.

In other developments, the sleeper non-AC version of the Vande Bharat (Vande Sadharan) is set to be launched on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route, and trials for the same have already begun. DeshGujarat