Parliament Question: Introduction of Puri–Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3301 ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026 INTRODUCTION OF PURI-VISAKHAPATNAM VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS 3301 SHRI SUBHASISH KHUNTIA: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has assessed the feasibility of introducing a Puri–Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express to strengthen connectivity between these vital east coast pilgrimage and industrial hubs; (b) the details of any studies conducted on passenger demand and track readiness for this specific corridor; (c) whether the Ministry is considering immediate extension of the existing Bhubaneswar- Visakhapatnam service to Puri to resolve current travel friction for inter-State pilgrims; and (d) whether an expedited roadmap has been prepared to ensure the commissioning of this service at the earliest possible date? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d) Presently, Puri is connected to Visakhapatnam by 04 pairs of direct train services. Further, Puri- Bhubaneswar sector is served by 44 pairs of train services (including 20835/20836 Puri-Rourkela Vande Bharat Express & 22895/22896 Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express) while Bhubaneswar- Visakhapatnam sector is served by 58 train services (including 20841/42 Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express). The list of the train services catering these sectors are listed below: Trains serving Puri-Visakhapatnam sector: SN Train No. & Name 1 20819/20820 Puri-Okha Express 2 22883/22884 Puri-Yesvantpur Garib Rath Express 3 22859/22860 Puri- MGR Chennai Express 4 17479/17480 Puri-Tirupati Express Trains serving Puri- Bhubaneswar sector: SN Train No. & Name 1 12145/12146 Puri-Lokmanya Tilak (T) Express 2 12277/12278 Puri-Howrah Shatabdi Express 3 12801/12802 Puri-Anand Vihar (T) Express 4 12815/12816 Puri-Anand Vihar (T) Express 5 12821/12822 Puri-Howrah Express 6 12837/12838 Puri-Howrah Express §7 12875/12876 Puri-Anand Vihar (T) Express 8 12881/12882 Puri-Shalimar Garib Rath Express 9 12887/12888 Puri-Shalimar Express 10 12895/12896 Puri-Shalimar Express 11 12993/12994 Puri-Gandhidham Express 12 15639/15640 Puri-Kamakhya Express 13 15643/15644 Puri-Kamakhya Express 14 18125/18126 Puri-Rourkela Express 15 18303/18304 Puri-Sambalpur Express 16 18401/18402 Puri-Bangriposi Express 17 18409/18410 Puri-Shalimar Express 18 18413/18414 Puri-Paradeep Express 19 18415/18416 Puri-Barbil Express 20 18419/18420 Puri-Jaynagar Express 21 18421/18422 Puri-Sonepur Express 22 18425/18426 Puri-Durg Express 23 18427/18428 Puri-Anand Vihar (T) Express 24 18449/18450 Puri-Patna Express 25 18451/18452 Puri-Hatia Express 26 18477/18478 Puri-Yog Nagari Rishikesh Express 27 20471/20472 Puri-Shri Ganganagar Express 28 20813/20814 Puri-Jodhpur Express 29 20823/20824 Puri-Ajmer Express 30 20835/20836 Puri-Rourkela Vande Bharat Express 31 20857/20858 Puri-Sainagar Shirdi Express 32 20861/20862 Puri-Ahmedabad Express 33 20917/20918 Puri-Indore Express 34 22201/22202 Puri-Sealdah Duronto Express 35 22827/22828 Puri-Surat Express 36 22835/22836 Puri-Shalimar Express 37 22865/22866 Puri-Lokmanya Tilak(T) Express 38 22889/22890 Puri-Digha Express 39 22895/22896 Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express 40 22909/22910 Puri-Valsad Express 41 68413/68414 Puri-Talcher MEMU 42 68415/68416 Puri-Cuttack MEMU 43 68421/68422 Puri-Angul MEMU 44 68441/68442 Puri-Jaleswar MEMU Trains serving Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam sector: SN Train No. & Name 1 11019/11020 Bhubaneswar New-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Express 2 12253/12254 Bhagalpur-SMVT Bengaluru Express 3 12503/12504 Agartala-SMVT Bengaluru Express 4 12507/12508 Silchar-Thiruvananthapuram Central Express 5 12509/12510 Guwahati-SMVT Bengaluru Express 6 12513/12514 Silchar-Charlapalli Express 7 12515/12516 Silchar-Coimbatore Express 8 12659/12660 Shalimar-Nagercoil Express 9 12663/12664 Howrah -Tiruchchirappalli Express 10 12665/12666 Howrah -Kanniyakumari Express §11 12703/12704 Howrah -Secunderabad Express 12 12773/12774 Shalimar-Secunderabad Express 13 12839/12840 Howrah - MGR Chennai Central Express 14 12841/12842 Howrah - MGR Chennai Central Express 15 12845/12846 Bhubaneswar-SMVT Bengaluru Express 16 12863/12864 Howrah -SMVT Bengaluru Express 17 12867/12868 Howrah -Puducherry Express 18 13433/13434 Malda Town-SMVT Bengaluru Amrit Bharat Express 19 15227/15228 Muzaffarpur -SMVT Bengaluru Express 20 15629/15630 Silghat Town-Tambaram Express 21 15929/15930 New Tinsukia-Tambaram Express 22 17015/17016 Bhubaneswar New -Secunderabad Express 23 18045/18046 Shalimar-Charlapalli Express 24 18047/18048 Shalimar-Vasco Da Gama Express 25 18463/18464 Bhubaneswar-K S R Bengaluru Express 26 20603/20604 New Jalpaiguri-Nagercoil Amrit Bharat Express 27 20609/20610 New Jalpaiguri-Tiruchchirappalli Amrit Bharat Express 28 20807/20808 Amritsar-Visakhapatnam Express 29 20815/20816 Tatanagar -Visakhapatnam Express 30 20841/20842 Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express 31 20849/20850 Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram Express 32 20851/20852 Bhubaneswar-Puducherry Express 33 20853/20854 Bhubaneswar-MGR Chennai Central Express 34 20889/20890 Howrah Jn-Tirupati Express 35 22305/22306 Jasidih -SMVT Bengaluru Express 36 22501/22502 New Tinsukia-SMVT Bengaluru Express 37 22503/22504 Dibrugarh-Kanniyakumari Express 38 22603/22604 Kharagpur Jn-Villupuram Jn Express 39 22605/22606 Purulia -Tirunelveli Express 40 22611/22612 New Jalpaiguri- MGR Chennai Central Express 41 22641/22642 Shalimar-Thiruvananthapuram Central Express 42 22643/22644 Patna -Ernakulam Express 43 22807/22808 Santragachi- MGR Chennai Central Express 44 22809/22810 Paradeep-Visakhapatnam Express 45 22817/22818 Howrah -Mysore Express 46 22819/22820 Bhubaneswar New -Visakhapatnam Express 47 22825/22826 Shalimar- MGR Chennai Central Express 48 22833/22834 Bhubaneswar-SMVT Bengaluru Express 49 22841/22842 Santragachi -Tambaram Express 50 22849/22850 Shalimar-Secunderabad Express 51 22851/22852 Santragachi -Mangalore Central Express 52 22853/22854 Shalimar-Visakhapatnam Express 53 22855/22856 Santragachi -Tirupati Express 54 22871/22872 Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Express 55 22873/22874 Digha-Visakhapatnam Express 56 22879/22880 Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Express 57 22881/22882 Bhubaneswar-Pune Express 58 22887/22888 Howrah -SMVT Bengaluru Express §Besides, introduction of new train services/extension of services including Vande Bharat Express service on any route/section, are on-going processes on Indian Railways and depend on various factors which include:  Capacity of that section  Availability of path  Availability of required rolling stock  Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock  Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other asset ***** §