Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flags off inaugural Bengaluru-Mumbai Vande Bharat Sleeper Express

The service' scheduled stoppages are Anantapur, Guntakal, Raichur, Yadgir, Kalaburagi, Solapur, Pune and Kalyan.

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Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday flagged off the inaugural run of the Vande Bharat Sleeper Express connecting Bengaluru and Mumbai, strengthening overnight rail connectivity between the two major metropolitan cities.

Officials said the inaugural special train, comprising a 16-coach Vande Bharat Sleeper rake that departed from Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal (SMVT), Bengaluru, is scheduled to reach Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Mumbai, at 6.15 am on Monday.

Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, H D Kumaraswamy, Ministers of State V Somanna and Shobha Karandlaje, Members of Parliament Tejasvi Surya, P C Mohan and C N Manjunath, among others were present.

South Western Railway's new service

South Western Railway said the train's regular services will commence from November 2 in the Mumbai-Bengaluru direction and November 3 in the return direction.

Train No. 27652 from Bengaluru to Mumbai will operate six days a week, except Mondays. It will depart SMVT Bengaluru at 7.45 pm and reach CSMT Mumbai at 11.55 am the following day.

In the return direction, Train No. 27651 will depart CSMT Mumbai at 8.10 pm and arrive at SMVT Bengaluru at noon the next day. The service will operate six days a week, except Tuesdays.

The service' scheduled stoppages are Anantapur, Guntakal, Raichur, Yadgir, Kalaburagi, Solapur, Pune and Kalyan.

The inaugural special train also had stoppages at Hindupur, Dharmavaram and Lonavala, in addition to the stations covered by the regular service.

The composition of the 16-coach rake includes eight motor car and four trailer car coaches.

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South Western Railway said the new service is expected to provide passengers with a comfortable overnight travel option while improving connectivity between Karnataka and Maharashtra.