The 20631/20632 Mangaluru Central - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express is India's 33rd Vande Bharat Express train, connecting West Karnataka's coastal city Mangaluru with Kerala's south and state capital Thiruvananthapuram. It is the second Vande Bharat Express in Kerala as well as India's first saffron coloured semi-high speed train (replaced with White Blue Vandebharat rake of the pairing train after extension to Mangalore Central).
History The first Vande Bharat train in Kerala started its service between Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram via Kottayam route in April 2023. With increase in patronage, there has been a strong demand by the passengers to have a second Vande Bharat between Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram so as to increase the frequency of this route per day to three trains. This vande bharat express is the fastest train between Mangaluru Central to Thiruvananthapuram Central and vice versa.
The initial service of this Vande Bharat Express train from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram Central was inaugurated on 24 September 2023 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conference from New Delhi. The extension of train from Kasaragod to Mangaluru was inaugurated on 12 March 2024 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conference from Ahmedabad.
Overview This train is operated by Indian Railways, connecting Mangaluru Ctrl, Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Tirur, Shoranur Junction, Thrissur, Ernakulam Junction, Alappuzha, Kollam Junction and Thiruvananthapuram Central. It is the second Vande Bharat Express train allocated to Kerala. It is currently operated with train numbers 20631/20632.
Rakes It was the thirty-first 2nd Generation and nineteenth Mini Vande Bharat 2.0 Express train which was designed and manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory at Perambur, Chennai under the Make in India Initiative. It is India's first Mini VB 2.0 Express train, running the tracks with the Saffron-Grey livery with 25 more modifications in the rakes. As per reports, a pairing train rake is allocated as there are a few problems in the maintenance of the train as per the current Time Table.
Switch of Rakes After extension till Mangalore, the maintenance problem has been resolved and the Saffron Grey rakes are swapped and replaced with White Blue Vandebharat rake of the pairing train. In August 2024, the Saffron Grey rake was made to run as temporary special service along Ernakulam - SMVT Bengaluru route. As of September 2024, the first saffron colored Vande Bharat rake is moved to Howrah - Rourkela route and the Mangaluru Central–Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express is running with one and only White Blue 8 car coach.
Coach Augmentation The 20631/20632 Mangaluru Central - Thiruvananthapuram Central Vande Bharat Express was permanently augmented with 08 more coaches and was running with 16-car Vande Bharat 2.0 trainset W.E.F. 22 May 2025 in order to meet the extra rush and passenger demands. The 16-coach trainset was earlier running as Chennai Egmore–Nagercoil VB Express, which started from the capital city of Tamil Nadu, Chennai and terminated at the Temple City of Nāgas, Nagercoil.
As of September 11, 2025, this express train has been further augmented with 4 additional AC coaches and is currently running with Vande Bharat 3.0 trainset, in order to meet the surge in passenger demand on this popular route.
Service
The 20631/20632 Mangaluru Ctrl - Thiruvananthapuram Ctrl Vande Bharat Express operates six days a week except Wednesdays, covering a distance of in a travel time of 8 hours with an average speed of . The service has 9 intermediate stops. The Maximum Permissible Speed is . + Mangaluru Ctrl - Thiruvananthapuram Ctrl Vande Bharat Express (20631) Station Station Code Arrival Departure Halt (min) Distance (km) Day Mangalore Cntl MAQ— 06:25—— 1 Kasaragod KGQ 06:58 07:00 2 46 1 Kannur CAN 07:55 07:57 2 132 1KozhikodeCLT08:5708:5922211TirurTIR09:2209:2422621Shoranur JnSRR09:5810:0023071ThrissurTCR10:3310:3523401Ernakulam JnERS11:4011:4334141 Alleppey ALLP 12:3312:352 471 1Kollam JnQLN13:3813:4025551Trivandrum CentralTVC15:05——6191 + Thiruvananthapuram Ctrl - Mangaluru Ctrl Vande Bharat Express (22436) Station Station Code Arrival Departure Halt (min) Distance (km) Day Trivandrum Central TVC— 16:05—— 1 Kollam Jn QLN 16:53 16:55 2 65 1 Alleppey ALLP 17:55 17:57 2 149 1 Ernakulam Jn ERS 18:4218:453 206 1ThrissurTCR19:5619:5822801Shoranur JnSRR20:3020:3223131TirurTIR21:0221:0423581KozhikodeCLT21:3221:3423991KannurCAN22:3622:3824881KasaragodKGQ23:4623:4825741Mangalore CntlMAQ00:45——6192
Gallery
See also Kasaragod–Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express KSR Bengaluru–Ernakulam Junction Vande Bharat Express Kannur–Thiruvananthapuram Jan Shatabdi Express Kozhikode–Thiruvananthapuram Jan Shatabdi Express Executive Express Mangalore Central railway station Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station Alappuzha railway station
Notes
References