Indian Railways has rolled out a new feature allowing last-minute bookings on select Vande Bharat Express trains. Passengers can now book tickets up to 15 minutes before the train departs from their boarding station.
The feature is currently available on eight Vande Bharat trains operating under the Southern Railway (SR) zone, which covers major routes in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.
This update is particularly helpful for travellers making unplanned trips, whether for work, emergencies, or short-notice plans. Before this change, ticket bookings were locked once the train started its journey.
There has been an improvement to the Passenger Reservation System (PRS). This technological improvement allows passengers to reserve seats up to 15 minutes prior to the train leaving their particular boarding station, and available seats will now be displayed in real time.
The regulations were rather stringent up until now. You couldn’t reserve a seat from any stop along the way once a Vande Bharat train left its starting station. Passengers from smaller towns or intermediary stops therefore had no means to board, even if seats were empty. Many trains thus operated with empty seats, leaving passengers stranded. They now have more options and a higher likelihood of finding a seat.
Tickets for the Vande Bharat Express trains listed below, which connect important cities throughout the southern states.
20631 Mangaluru Central – Thiruvananthapuram Central
20632 Thiruvananthapuram Central – Mangaluru Central
20627 Chennai Egmore – Nagercoil
20628 Nagercoil – Chennai Egmore
20642 Coimbatore – Bengaluru Cantt.
20646 Mangaluru Central – Madgaon
20671 Madurai – Bengaluru Cantt.
20677 Dr MGR Chennai Central – Vijayawada
According to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Vande Bharat trains are currently operating at over 100% occupancy, meaning that on average, there are more passengers than seats available.
“The overall occupancy of Vande Bharat Express trains in Financial Year 2024-25 & 2025-26 (till June, 2025) is 102.01% & 105.03% respectively,” he stated.
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