With this addition, the service will run with 20 coaches, which include 18 Chair Car and two Executive Class.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Four more Chair Car coaches will be added to the Mangaluru Central-Thiruvananthapuram Central-Mangaluru Central Vande Bharat Express, with effect from September 9 owing to high passenger demand.
With this addition, the service will run with 20 coaches, which include 18 Chair Car (CC) and two Executive Class (EC).
Southern Railway, in a release here on Thursday, said the Ministry of Railways had recently approved the proposal to enhance the number of coaches.
The railways doubled the number of coaches on these services, Train No. 20631/632, with effect from May 22. The further addition comes within about three months of the latest revision in coach composition.
The services, which were initially operating between Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram, were extended to Mangaluru Central on March 13, 2024.
Train No. 20631 leaves Mangaluru Central at 6.25 a.m. and reaches Thiruvananthapuram Central at 3.05 p.m., traversing 620 km in 8 hours and 40 minutes at an average speed of 72 kmph. Meanwhile, Train No. 20632 leaves Thiruvananthapuram Central at 4.05 p.m. and reaches Mangaluru Central at 12.40 a.m. in 8 hours and 35 minutes. They operate on all days of the week, except Wednesdays.
Fares on the Mangaluru-Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express are fixed at ₹1,615 for CC and ₹2,945 for EC classes. In the return journey, the fares are ₹1,575 and ₹2,910 respectively.
The services became an instant hit as they covered the 620-km distance within nine hours, while other express and superfast trains between the two cities take at least 13 hours for the same journey. Tourists and businessmen have extensively been using the services.
The augmentation of coaches adds about 300 more seats to the existing 1,128 seats.
Published – September 04, 2025 09:09 pm IST
