Vizag MLA seeks overnight Vande Bharat trains

BJP MLA for Visakhapatnam North, P. Vishnu Kumar Raju, has urged the Union railway minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, to approve new and additional overnight Vande Bharat services from Visakhapatnam to major destinations including Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Tirupati.

In a letter to the minister, Raju said the planned shift of flight operations from the city airport to the upcoming Bhogapuram airport, expected in June or July 2026, would sharply increase travel time for an estimated 2.5 lakh passengers who fly from the city each month.

He said the journey from Visakhapatnam to Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district takes about two hours and, when combined with the mandatory two-hour pre-departure reporting time, door-to-door travel for short sectors such as Visakhapatnam–Vijayawada could stretch to nearly six hours.

Raju also warned of the likely cost burden on passengers. Taxi fares to Bhogapuram, he said, are expected to range from Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000, in several cases higher than the airfare to destinations such as Vijayawada. He argued that strengthening Vande Bharat connectivity could reduce reliance on private cabs and cut annual fuel costs by Rs 600 crore to Rs 900 crore.

Linking the proposal to broader regional development plans, the MLA said the Visakhapatnam Economic Region’s goal of reaching a $130bn GDP and generating 20 million jobs by 2032 would require strong and affordable rail connectivity.

Calling Vande Bharat services a “logical, economical and passenger-friendly alternative”, he urged the railway ministry to prioritise the Visakhapatnam–Vijayawada route, pointing to a travel time of about 4.5 hours, and to consider overnight or additional services to Hyderabad, Tirupati, Bengaluru and Chennai.

Moving air travellers to high-speed rail on regional routes, he said, was necessary to prevent Visakhapatnam from becoming an “expensive and time-consuming” travel hub.