Vande Bharat fare is 1.4 times of Shatabdi

CHENNAI: The basic fare for AC chair car and executive class of Chennai-Mysuru Vande Bharat express could be 1.4 and 1.3 times respectively of Shatabdi. Other charges like reservation fee, superfast charge, catering charge and GST, as applicable, would be levied separately.

The train, which would be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 11, had its maiden trial run from MGR Chennai Central to Mysuru via Bengaluru on Monday. Southern Railway general manager BG Mallya and his Southwestern Railway counterpart Sanjeev Kishore, and technical staff were on board. The train departed from MGR Chennai Central at 5.50 am and reached Mysuru at 12.30 pm, with stoppage at Katpadi and KSR Bengaluru.

Though the fully air-conditioned train has the capacity to travel at 160 km per hour, it would not be able to achieve its peak capacity on the route as the track infrastructure does not support speed beyond 110 kmph.

Officials said the speed could go up to touch 130 kmph once the nationwide project to increase track capacity is done on the Chennai - Mysuru stretch.

The Southwestern Railway, headquartered at Hubbali in Karnataka, has already written to the Railway Board to operate Vande Bharat trains from Bengaluru to Chennai and Coimbatore.