Bengaluru: Travel demand on the KSR Bengaluru–Ernakulam Vande Bharat Express has surged so sharply ahead of Christmas that the train is fully booked nearly a month in advance, with passengers unable to secure seats even on the waiting list for several late-December dates.

Waiting list for the chair car has already crossed 50 for the period between December 20 and 30. The rush is no different on the return leg: tickets for Ernakulam–Bengaluru services on December 28 and January 4 are completely unavailable.

Passengers seek more coaches

Frustrated travellers are urging the Railways to increase the number of coaches from the current eight to at least sixteen. At present, the Vande Bharat operates with seven chair cars and one executive chair car, accommodating only 600 passengers per trip. Doubling the rake size could raise the capacity to 1,200.

The train introduced into regular service on November 11, has not seen a single day of low occupancy. Operating daily except Wednesdays, the Bengaluru–Ernakulam Vande Bharat (26651) leaves KSR Bengaluru at 5:10 am and reaches Ernakulam at 1:50 pm,

while the Ernakulam–Bengaluru Vande Bharat (26652) departs at 2:20 pm and arrives at 11 pm.

This route has quickly become one of the highest revenue-generating Vande Bharat services under the South Western Railway.