The 20671/20672 Madurai Junction - Bengaluru Cantonment Vande Bharat Express is India's 53rd Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the Temple city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu with the Silicon City of Bangalore in Karnataka. This express train was initially slated to be inaugurated on 20 June 2024, but has been postponed due to administrative reasons. Later, it was inaugurated on 31 August 2024 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing from New Delhi.
History During the trial run for this express, it was scheduled to take place on June 17, 2024, where it would depart from Madurai in the morning and terminate at SMVT Bengaluru in the afternoon. This trainset (Rake number 61) would depart from SMVT Bengaluru post noon and would reach Madurai in the night as Madurai SMVT Bangalore Vandebharat Express but during inaugural run and at regular commercial run, it has been provided a new destination at Bangalore Cantonment along with additional stoppage at Namakkal.
Overview This express train is operated by Indian Railways, connecting , Dindigul Jn, Trichy Jn, Karur Jn, Namakkal, Salem Jn, Krishnarajapuram and Bengaluru Cantonment. It is currently operated with train numbers 20671/20672 on 6 days a week basis.
Rakes
It was the fifty-first 2nd Generation and thirty-fifth 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.
Coach augmentation As of September 2025, this express train was augmented with 8 additional AC coaches and is currently running with Vande Bharat 2.0 trainset (formerly used by Mangaluru–Trivandrum VB train), in order to meet the surge in passenger demand on this popular route.
Service
The 20671/20672 Madurai Jn - Bengaluru Cantt Vande Bharat Express operates six days a week except Tuesdays, covering a distance of in a travel time of 7 hours with an average speed of . The service has 6 intermediate stops. The Maximum Permissible Speed is .
See also
Vande Bharat Express Tejas Express Gatimaan Express Madurai Junction railway station Bengaluru Cantonment railway station
Notes
References