Udaipur Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express to Launch on 16 February With New Schedule

The Udaipur–Ahmedabad Vande Bharat corridor is set for a major upgrade, with Indian Railways rolling out a new Udaipur City–Asarva semi‑high‑speed service from February 16. Cleared by the Railway Board, the train offers a sub‑five‑hour run, morning departure from Udaipur and evening return from Ahmedabad, giving passengers a same‑day business and tourism option between southern Rajasthan and Gujarat’s commercial hub.

North Western Railway has confirmed that the Udaipur City–Asarva Vande Bharat Express will operate with train numbers 26963 and 26964, running six days a week and remaining off the tracks on Tuesdays. Designed as a fast intercity link rather than an overnight service, it replaces two earlier Vande Bharat routes out of Udaipur, signalling a clear shift towards higher‑demand, shorter‑haul connectivity in the region.

Udaipur–Asarva Vande Bharat timings and schedule

According to the approved timetable, train 26963 will leave Udaipur City at 6:10 am and reach Asarva, within Ahmedabad city limits, at 10:25 am, covering roughly 296 kilometres in about four hours and fifteen minutes. In the return direction, train 26964 will depart Asarva at 5:45 pm and arrive back in Udaipur at 10:00 pm, giving travellers a workable window for meetings or shopping and a same‑day return.

The Railway Board has approved three commercial halts on the route, intended to balance journey time with regional access. The train will stop at Zawar in Udaipur district, Dungarpur in southern Rajasthan, and Himmatnagar in north Gujarat before entering Ahmedabad. This pattern keeps the overall run under five hours while opening faster links for smaller centres that currently rely on slower mail or express services.

Train	Direction	Departure	Arrival	Key halts	Runs
26963	Udaipur City → Asarva	06:10	10:25	Zawar, Dungarpur, Himmatnagar	Wed–Mon
26964	Asarva → Udaipur City	17:45	22:00	Himmatnagar, Dungarpur, Zawar	Wed–Mon

Halts, timings make same‑day trips practical

The early start from Udaipur is aimed at business travellers and government officials needing to reach Ahmedabad by mid‑morning without flying. With arrival scheduled before office hours peak, passengers can head to central Ahmedabad, GIFT City or industrial belts and return on the evening service. For tourists, the schedule supports short itineraries covering lakeside Udaipur and Ahmedabad’s heritage and shopping circuits in a single trip.

On the ground, the new timings also improve access for towns along the line. Commuters from Dungarpur and Himmatnagar get a faster, air‑conditioned option into Ahmedabad or Udaipur, reducing reliance on road travel over hilly stretches. Rail planners expect the limited‑stop pattern and comfortable chair‑car configuration to appeal to traders, students and patients travelling for specialised healthcare, particularly from tribal belts surrounding the corridor.

Existing Udaipur Vande Bharats to be discontinued

The launch comes with a trade‑off: the Railway Board has ordered withdrawal of the Udaipur–Jaipur and Udaipur–Agra Cantt Vande Bharat services this week. Train 20979/80 on the Jaipur route will make its last run on February 14, while 20981/82 to Agra Cantt will stop operating from February 15. Officials and industry watchers link the reshuffle to lower patronage on those longer routes and better rake utilisation on the new corridor.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently told Parliament that 164 Vande Bharat services are running on 82 routes nationwide, and the network is being fine‑tuned to match demand. In that backdrop, concentrating a rake on a shorter, high‑frequency Udaipur–Asarva service allows Indian Railways to test strong business‑tourism flows between Rajasthan and Gujarat while still keeping conventional express options for Jaipur and Agra in place.

Fares, bookings and expected demand

Official fare charts for the Udaipur–Asarva Vande Bharat had not been notified at the time of writing, but they are expected to carry a premium over the existing Udaipur–Asarva Express, which currently takes about five hours and forty minutes with multiple halts. Vande Bharat chair‑car and executive‑class pricing on comparable sectors elsewhere suggests a clear focus on time‑sensitive travellers rather than purely budget traffic.

Bookings are likely to open once the timetable is formally uploaded to passenger reservation systems under numbers 26963 and 26964, typically several days before the inaugural run. Given strong public attention around new Vande Bharat launches and local political backing, railway officials anticipate high first‑week occupancy, especially in the morning Udaipur–Ahmedabad leg. Seat demand patterns in coming months will determine whether additional rakes or extensions towards Surat and Mumbai, as local representatives have urged, move beyond the planning stage.

For now, passengers in Rajasthan and Gujarat get a faster, daylight connection tying Udaipur’s tourism economy with Ahmedabad’s commercial ecosystem, backed by modern onboard amenities and reduced travel time. The February 16 start will be closely watched by planners and passengers alike as an early test of how Vande Bharat services can be tuned towards dense regional corridors rather than only marquee, long‑distance routes.