Kacheguda-Yesvantpur VB Express timings causing concern for IT employees

Railway officials say that this train was introduced mainly keeping the IT employees in mind.

Hyderabad: The Kacheguda – Yesvantpur Vande Bharat Express which was recently introduced to facilitate faster travel between the two IT hubs of Hyderabad and Bengaluru, is not seen as feasible given its time schedule, by many IT employees and working professionals who travel frequently between the two cities.

This Vande Bharat, runs six days in a week, through Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Railway officials say that this train was introduced mainly keeping the IT employees in mind.

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The distance between Kacheguda and Yesvantpur is about 610 km and the journey in Vande Bharat train takes 8.30 hours, whereas otherwise it would take 10 hours. Though IT employees and other working professionals are happy with the newly introduced train, several express reservations about its timing, which they say is not feasible.

“At least for me, the timings of the VB Express are not feasible. We may have to take a day off from office to travel between the two cities in the train. The schedules are not suitable to most of the employees though for families, it may not an issue,” said a software employee from Chikkadpally.

Currently, the Vande Bharat Express departs Kacheguda at 5.30 am and reaches Yesvantpur junction at 2.00 pm enroute via Mahabubnagar (6.49am), Kurnool City (8.24 am), Ananthapur (10.44 am), Dharmavaram (11.14am). From there, it may take about two hours into the evening by the time people reach their office or home. This means, the entire day time is spent on travel.

The return journey timing is also similar. The train leaves Yesvantpur junction at 2.45 pm and reaches Kacheguda at 11.15 pm. In order to avoid Bengaluru traffic, one must leave by 12 noon and on reaching Hyderabad at 11.15 pm, it would be well past mid-night for one to reach homes at places like Kukatpally and Miyapur.

In view of the time constraints, a youngster who frequently travels between Hyderabad and Bangalore getting into bus at 9 pm and reaching destination by 7 am the next day, requests the railway authorities to consider a change in the timing. “It will be good if the train could reach Yesvantpur before 12pm. Then, there will be some possibility to work half-a-day atleast,” he said. Even in the return direction, he suggests the train starts from Yesvantpur at 4pm for the convenience of working professionals.