CHENNAI: The Chennai-Bengaluru double-decker express will get five second-class sitting reserved coaches from February 15 onwards. The tickets will be priced at `140 for an end-to-end journey, as per a Southern Railway order dated January 5.
With this, the number of AC double-decker chair car coaches will be reduced from 10 to eight. The train takes 5 hours and 45 minutes to reach Bengaluru from Chennai and will be preferred over superfast trains with second-class coaches in this section which have a minimum travel time of 6 hours and 10 minutes.
Similarly, the Coimbatore-Bengaluru UDAY, which currently operates with seven AC double-decker chair car coaches, will also run with eight AC chair car and five second-class reserved coaches. While the zonal railway has not attributed any reasons for the standardisation of composition, the move is said to have been aimed at decongesting the coaching shed to facilitate maintenance for the recently introduced Coimbatore - Bengaluru Cantonment Vande Bharat rake in Coimbatore.
The double-decker AC express was introduced between Chennai and Bengaluru in April 2013. To boost occupancy, the AC chair coaches of the Brindavan Express, a much sought-after intercity train on the route, were removed and additional stoppages were introduced for safety and commercial reasons. Consequently, the travel time of the Brindavan Express gradually increased. The Brindavan Express, with 22 non-AC coaches have been running with close to 100% occupancy throughout the year.