A new Vande Bharat Express linking Bengaluru with Goa via Mangaluru is likely to be flagged off on Thursday, November 13, according to a report in The Hindu published on Tuesday, November 10. The service — train numbers 26655 and 26656 between Yesvantpur Junction and Madgaon Junction — extends the existing Mangaluru–Madgaon coastal service to Bengaluru, and will be operated and maintained by South Western Railway.

Source: The Hindu via Chetan Bharat Current Affairs

The Indian Express, cited in a November 10 report, has also reported the November 13 launch as highly anticipated by travellers on the Bengaluru–Mangaluru route, noting that electrification of that route was completed in December 2025 and trial and safety work followed before the service could start.

Source: The Indian Express via Curly Tales

Route, halts and timings

The regular service will cover 671 km in about 13 hours and 20 minutes, running six days a week, with 12 intermediate halts: Shravanabelagola, Hassan, Sakleshpur, Subrahmanya Road, Kabaka Puttur, Mangaluru Junction, Udupi, Kundapura, Mookambika Road Byndoor, Murdeshwar, Gokarna Road and Karwar. Train 26655 is listed to leave Yesvantpur at 7:35 am and reach Madgaon at 8:55 pm, except on Wednesdays; the return 26656 leaves Madgaon at 8:20 am and reaches Yesvantpur at 9:15 pm, except on Thursdays. Two rakes have been prepared for the service.

What happens on November 13 — and what is still 'likely'

The Hindu's report says Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to flag off the service remotely from Bengaluru, while Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is expected at Mangaluru Junction, with inaugural specials running towards Bengaluru and Mangaluru. Reports stress that this is an expected launch, not yet a completed event: the Railway Ministry had announced the extension on September 29 and released the timetable on October 30, but fares and a formal inauguration confirmation were still awaited when the reports were published.

The Bengaluru–Mangaluru link has been promised for weeks. On November 1, at the flag-off of the Bengaluru–Mumbai Vande Bharat Sleeper, Vaishnaw said a Vande Bharat between Bengaluru and Mangaluru would be introduced in the coming weeks after electrification and testing work was completed, IANS reported.

Source: IANS

For coastal Karnataka, the train gives Bengaluru a direct daytime rail link through the Western Ghats to Mangaluru and onward up the Konkan coast to Goa — a route travellers have long covered by overnight bus or slower trains. What remains to be confirmed is the final inauguration on November 13 and the ticket fares for the chair-car service.