BENGALURU: A chorus of cheers and clicking of photos welcomed the first Vande Bharat from Dharwad to Bengaluru as it entered Platform 8 of KSR station at 7.31 pm, 8.5 hours after it began its 489-km journey. Happiness and excitement was writ large on the faces of those onboard the inaugural train. A huge crowd had gathered on the platform to catch a glimpse of the train.
The enormous interest in this unique service in Karnataka with crowds queuing up en route forced its stoppage at many stations not originally planned thereby stretching the travel time by an extra two hours, explained a senior railway official.
During regular commercial run beginning on Wednesday from KSR Bengaluru in the morning and from Dharwad in the afternoon, the train will only have only five stoppages in both directions - Hubballi, Karajgi, Davangere, Sampige Road and Yesvantpur in both directions. The train will run all days of the week except Tuesdays and the distance will be covered within 6.5 hours.
The free travel offered to all passengers on the maiden run of this fully AC train certainly added to its novelty. Among those who hopped on board were 30 students from St Claret College in Jalahalli who almost made it like a suburban service by boarding it at Yesvantpur and alighting at KSR station. “The exterior and the interiors of the train captivated us so much.
We had just 20 minutes on the train but it was so much fun. We really enjoyed this experience together as a group by taking so many photos and a bit of singing and dancing too,” said Chandan Anand, a 2nd year student.