Mumbai-Mangaluru Vande Bharat: A Game Changer for Coastal Travel?

Indian Railways plans to offer a Vande Bharat train service from Mumbai to Mangaluru by merging the existing Mumbai-Goa and Mangaluru-Goa routes.  With the new route, passengers would be able to travel from Mumbai to Mangaluru in around 12 hours, maximizing both passenger volume and efficiency.

One of the least popular routes is the Mangaluru-Goa Vande Bharat, which has fewer than 40% of passengers. In order to address this, the railways first suggested extending service to Kozhikode. However, political authorities in Karnataka rejected this proposal, therefore it was shelved. At present, the Mangaluru-Goa Vande Bharat takes approximately four and a half hours to complete its journey.

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The Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat had a high occupancy rate of over 90% at first, but it has now fallen to roughly 70%. The Railways claim that combining the Mumbai-Goa and Mangaluru-Goa services into a single Mumbai-Mangaluru line will reach full passenger capacity.

The trains that run between Mangaluru and Mumbai, as well as those that go to Kerala, are consistently packed. A direct Vande Bharat service between Mumbai and Mangaluru is expected to attract more passengers, according to the Railways' calculations.

The Vande Bharat now departs Mumbai at 5:25 AM and reaches Goa at 1:10 PM. It would next travel to Mangaluru, arriving at approximately 6:00 PM, according to the suggested plan. In the same way, the Mangaluru-Goa Vande Bharat leaves at 8:30 AM and reaches Goa at 1:10 PM. The train should arrive at approximately 9:00 PM if it continues to Mumbai.

However, there can be an issue at this time due to the crowding at Mumbai's rail stations. The Central Railways has stated that modifications to the Mumbai-Mangaluru Vande Bharat schedule would be necessary because certain long-distance trains arrive in Mumbai at approximately 9:00 PM.