Vande Bharat Sleeper Express Launch: Everything About New Delhi-Varanasi & Bengaluru-Mumbai Routes

Seven years ago, the Vande Bharat Express made its debut on the Delhi-Varanasi route, a semi-high-speed train that promised to shrink the country but cutting the long travel time. Now, the same corridor is getting the next chapter: a sleeper.

The New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Sleeper Express is set to be flagged off from Varanasi by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. With Diwali and Chhath days falling in the first week of November, the Vande Bharat Sleeper Express arrives just as millions of Indians prepare to head home. But that's not the only new train launch, South Western Railways operated Bengaluru to Mumbai Vande Bharat is also officially launched.

Here's everything you should know about the newly launched Vande Bharat from New Delhi to Varanasi and Bengaluru to Mumbai, its route, timing, coaches and more.

The schedule is built for overnight travellers. The New Delhi-Varansi Vande Bharat Sleeper Express train 27421 is scheduled to leave Varanasi at 8.50 pm and pull into Delhi at 5.55 am. In other direction, the New Delhi-Varansi Vande Bharat Sleeper Express train 27422 departs New Delhi at 9.40 pm and arrives in Varanasi at 6.45 am.

You board post dinner, sleep through Kanpur Central and wake up in the next city, with a full working day ahead of you. The 760 km journey takes nine hours and 30 minutes and the service will run six days a week. However, no departure from New Delhi on Fridays and none from Varanasi on Saturdays.

There are 16 coaches across three classes: Third AC, Second AC and First AC. The train that will take 9 hours 30 minutes to reach its final destination is scheduled to stop at just two stations, Prayagraj and Kanpur Central. The fare circular is yet to be issued, but an official says prices will sit a little above those of other trains on the route, reflecting the added amenities.

In its first 119 trips over three months, the Howrah-Kamakhya Vande Bharat, for instance, ran at over 100 per cent occupancy, carrying 1.21 lakh passengers. Similarly, in a single year since the first Varanasi run in 2019, the trins have carried more than 9.1 crore passengers over one lakh trips.

Varanasi's launch day expected to be 31 October, 2026 is expected to also bring two MEMU services: one linking Varanasi with Prayagraj Rambagh, the other connecting Varanasi City with Raja Talab.

The New Delhi-Varansi Vande Bharat Sleeper Express is only one of the many. The Bengaluru-Mumbai Vande Bharat sleeper has also been launched is expected to cover 1118 km in roughly 16 hours and five minutes. The 27651/27652 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) – SMVT Bengaluru Vande Bharat Sleeper Express is developed by BEML using technology from Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and the South Western Railway zone will maintain and operate the train.

Train number 27652/27651 Bengaluru-Mumbai-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Sleeper Express will operate via Kalaburagi and will stop at eight railway stations including Anantapur, Guntakal, Raichur, Yadgir, Kalaburagi, Solapur, Pune, and Kalyan. While, the train starting from Bengaluru will depart from SMVT Bengaluru at 19:45 hrs and arrive in CSMT Mumbai at 11:55 hrs the next day. The train will operate six days a week, except Mondays.

Whereas,  train number 27651 Mumbai-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Sleeper Express will depart from CSMT Mumbai at 20:10 hrs and reach SMVT Bengaluru at 12:00 hrs the following day, running six days a week, except on Tuesdays.

A total of two Vande Bharat Sleeper trainsets will be deployed on the Bengaluru-Mumbai-Bengaluru route.

That said, there are multiple chair car routes along with sleeper Vande Bharat trains operating across India. Each route is a pair of services (one in each direction) so there are 162 chair car services in total.