New Vande Bharat Between Bangalore and Ernakulam
Indian Railways has notified the running of the much awaited new Vande Bharat Express service between the cities of Bengaluru in Karnataka and Ernakulam in Kerala. The new train was earlier announced by the Honorable Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The new train is the first Vande Bharat in the south that passes through with stoppage in more than two states. This is the third Vande Bharat for Kerala and the sixth for Karnataka. The train is operated by South Western Railway and belongs to the Bangalore division. The schedule is hence designed for the train to run from Bangalore to Ernakulam and back during the day time as there is only one rake available and it has to return to base on the same day itself. It will start from KSR Bengaluru City Jn itself and not from Bengaluru Cantt or even the SMVB Terminal.
The Bengaluru – Ernakulam Vande Bharat Express will be inaugurated as a special service on Saturday, November 8, 2025. It will start running as a regular service from Tuesday, November 11, 2025. The regular service will run on all days except Wednesdays. The service will be run using a single 8-car Vande Bharat (Train 18) rake. The rake assigned is Rake 53 produced by ICF and was earlier allocated to SCR.
Timetable of the Bangalore – Ernakulam Vande Bharat Express
The 26551 SBC – ERS Vande Bharat will leave Bengaluru very early in the morning at 0510 (5:10 am) to arrive Ernakulam at 1350 (1:50 pm) in the early afternoon. In the return direction the 26552 ERS – SBC Vande Bharat Express will then depart Ernakulam at 1420 (2:20 pm) in the afternoon to arrive at Bangalore late at night at 2300 (11 pm). Both 26551 and 26552 Vande Bharats are both the fastest trains between Ernakulam and Bangalore covering the distance in 8 hours, 40 minutes. The train will stop at 7 stations enroute, at Krishnarajapuram, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Palakkad and Thrissur. It is the fastest train between all these stations and is also the second Vande Bharat between Coimbatore and Bangalore.
The detailed timetable and schedule of the Bangalore – Ernakulam VB service is given below.
26551 Bangalore City Jn SBC – Ernakulam Jn (South) ERS Vande Bharat Express (SWR)
Divn: SBC | 8 coaches | Distance: 602 km | Halts: 7 | Time: 8h 40m | Avg Speed: 69 kph | No service: Wed
| Station | Arrives at | Departs at | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| KSR Bangalore City Jn SBC | 0510 | The departure time from Bangalore is way too early. It should’ve started an hour later to make it more comfortable. It would be a hassle for many people to reach the station at this time. | |
| Krishnarajapuram KJM | 0523 | 0525 | Most of the passengers will be boarding the train from here. It is too early even here. |
| Salem SA | 0813 | 0815 | Most people will wake up when the train stops here. |
| Erode ED | 0900 | 0905 | Crew change. |
| Tiruppur TUP | 0945 | 0947 | This stoppage could’ve been avoided. |
| Coimbatore CBE | 1033 | 1035 | The train actually is a good morning service from Bangalore to Coimbatore. |
| Palakkad PGT | 1128 | 1130 | An impressive 52-minute run between Coimbatore and Palakkad. |
| Thrissur TCR | 1228 | 1230 | The fastest train between Palakkad and Thrissur at 58 minutes! Thrissur gadis can probably avoid taking lunch from the train |
| Ernakulam ERS | 1350 | Arrives at Ernakulam just after lunch time. There are no connections available further south at this time. |
26552 Ernakulam Jn (South) ERS – Bangalore City Jn SBC Vande Bharat Express (SWR)
Divn: SBC | 8 coaches | Distance: 625 km | Halts: 7 | Time: 8h 40m | Avg Speed: 72 kph | No service: Wed
| Station | Arrives at | Departs at | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ernakulam Jn ERS | — | 1420 | Departs Ernakulam post lunch time to at least the passengers will be spared from having the food on the train. |
| Thrissur TCR | 1517 | 1520 | |
| Palakkad Jn PGT | 1635 | 1637 | Afternoon train from Palakkad to Bangalore. |
| Coimbatore Jn CBE | 1720 | 1723 | Like the down service, this is also a convenient time for Coimbatore people to board the train. |
| Tiruppur TUP | 1803 | 1805 | |
| Erode Jn ED | 1845 | 1850 | Crew change at Erode as the sun goes down. |
| Salem Jn SA | 1918 | 1920 | |
| Krishnarajapuram KJM | 2223 | 2225 | Most people would alight here. Most onward public transport would’ve ceased by now. If the train arrives on time and if they were to hurry, able passengers would be able to catch the last Metro services on weekdays. |
| KSR Bangalore City Jn SBC | 2300 | Arrives Bangalore late at night with no public transport available onward travel would have to be by private car or by taxis or one-and-a-half autos. |
The new Bangalore – Ernakulam Vande Bharat Express – Timetable Review
First of all, any train being announced to Kerala is to be welcomed. Southern Railway and Indian Railways see Kerala only as a place to dump the oldest and worst coaches and to collect fare to give facilities in other states. Most of the time the only focus the railways seem to have about the state is to make every express train stop at every other station in the state. The third Vande Bharat of the state is one of the most anticipated, but unfortunately the timings seem to have turned out to be anti-climatic.
The timings are odd: The Ernakulam Vande Bharat departs from Bangalore City station at 5:10 and from KR Puram at 5:23 early in the morning. This is way too early. Bangalore Metro services on the Purple and Green lines start only at 5 in the morning, as do nearly all BMTC services. Passengers would’ve to rely on someone to drop them or on Ubers or taxis and autorickshaws to reach the station. The arrival timings of the train at Ernakulam is also odd since there are no onward connections available at the time. SWR probably had to keep such an aggressive schedule to ensure the rake reaches back the same day.
Why aren’t they starting the Vande Bharat from Ernakulam in the morning? There are multiple reasons why this won’t work. One, starting the train from Ernakulam at 5 in the morning would make it useless for anyone who is not from Ernakulam/Kochi. This way the train becomes useful for all of south and eastern Kerala as well, especially places like rest of Ernakulam district, Alappuzha, Kottayam, etc. Two, night time speed restrictions on the Coimbatore – Palakkad gap section will mean that the return trip might take an hour longer. Three, there is no path from Jolarpettai until Bangalore or space at Bangalore for the train during the noon time.
There is only one rake: As of now a single 8-car rake has been allocated for the service. The rake has to return to its home base (Bangalore) on the same day. This has resulted in a hurried schedule though is very aggressive might also be impractical for many. The service should’ve been allotted two 16-car rakes that could be stationed at Ernakulam or Trivandrum (North) coaching depots. This would’ve allowed running the train to Trivandrum as a continuation or as a separate service in the mornings and evenings.
It is (relatively) fast. The single rake has also ensured that this train has a cracker of a run. The Vande Bharat covers the 600-odd kilometers between Bengaluru and Ernakulam in 8 hours and 40 minutes which is a whole two hours shorter than the next fastest train. However the overall average speed of the train is 72 kph which is decent enough, but could’ve still been better. Another 40 minutes would’ve been saved if the train were to skip Coimbatore and would run via the Irugur bypass with a stoppage at Podanur, and the Tiruppur stoppage were removed.
With the odd timings of departure and arrival at both ends, and with the stoppages in the Kongu region that would significantly eat into the seat quota for the three stations in Kerala, it would seem that the train was designed to meet the needs of the Coimbatore region more than Kerala. And Coimbatore has now two Vande Bharats to Bangalore, one in the morning and one in the evening.
Overall though it is better than nothing, the schedule could’ve been much better. They could’ve followed a slightly less aggressive but practical schedule where the train leaves at 6 am in the morning from Bangalore and at 2 pm from Ernakulam to reach KR Puram by around 10 pm so it would be a bit more convenient for the passengers.
It leaves to be seen after the initial PR hoopla and euphoria dies down how much the uptake of the train will turn out to be. Probably hopefully they will revise the timings later on and delete some of the stoppages in favour of Kerala. The train will probably still run full on most days but it could’ve been better, especially since it has been awaited for so long. It needs to be said that the announcement of the train has now turned into a disappointment.
