Two New Vande Bharat Trains for North Eastern Railway

The Indian Railways has announced the notification of two more Vande Bharat Express trains to run from the North Eastern Railway zone. However both trains have only very limited running distance within the NER zone itself, with the second one (BSBS-KURJ) having only its departing station as part of the NER zone. The first one will run entirely through Uttar Pradesh while the second one will connect UP with MP.

26504/26503 Lucknow Jn NER – Saharanpur – Lucknow Jn NER Vande Bharat Express (NER)

The LJN-SRE Vande Bharat simply runs along one of the most crowded sections of the Indian Railway and entirely in Uttar Pradesh. It will cater to daily commuters probably, but it remains to be seen how well taken up it will be. The train will start running on a date to be announced later.

The 26504 Sahranpur Vande Bharat express will leave Lucknow Jn NER at 0500 (5 am) in the morning on six days except Mondays and will arrive at Saharanpur at 1245. On its return trip, the 26503 SRE-LJN Vande Bharat will leave Saharanpur at 1500 (3 pm in the afternoon) and arrive at Lucknow Jn NER at 2300 (11 pm) at night. The detailed timetable with stoppages and schedules are given below.

26504 Lucknow Jn NER – Saharanpur Vande Bharat Express timetable

26503 Saharanpur – Lucknow Jn NER Vande Bharat Express timetable

26422/26421 Banaras – Khajuraho – Banaras (Varanasi) Vande Bharat Express (NER)

The second new Vande Bharat express to be launched from NER and UP in November 2025 seems be a dedicated tourist train that connects Banaras (Varanasi), Prayagraj and Khajuraho. This makes it the second Vande Bharat express to Khajuraho. It is now possible to do a Delhi – Agra – Khajuraho – Banaras – Delhi tourist triangle using only Vande Bharat trains. The train departs from Banaras (BSBS) station and does not stop at Varanasi Junction.

Also, interestingly, though it is a NER train, it runs via the Varanasi-Prayagraj mainline that is NCR territory rather than via the branch line via Gyanpur that is NER territory. Probably because they wanted to avoid a reversal at PRYJ.

The 26506 Khajuraho Vande Bharat express departs Varanasi BSB six days a week (except Mondays) at 0525 (5:25 am) to arrive at Khajuraho at 1310 (1:10 pm). On the return trip, the 26505 KURJ-BSBS (Banaras) Vande Bharat express departs Khajuraho KURJ at 1520 (3:20 pm) to arrive back at Banaras BSBS at 2300 (11 pm) at night on the same day.

The train started running on regular service from November 11, 2025.

26506 Banaras – Khajuraho Bharat Express timetable

Divn: BSB | 8 coaches | Distance: 469 km | Halts: 5 | Time: 8h 40m | Avg Speed: 61 kph | No service: Thu

26505 Khajuraho – Banaras Bharat Express timetable

Divn: BSB | 8 coaches | Distance: 469 km | Halts: 5 | Time: 7h 55m | Avg Speed: 59 kph | No service: Thu