INDIA: The Sabarmati–Veraval Vande Bharat Express is scheduled to move to the Gandhigram–Botad corridor on August 17, adding a permanent stop at Chital in Amreli district.

White-and-blue Vande Bharat Express train at a station platform
Mumbai Central–Gandhinagar Capital Vande Bharat Express at a station. Illustrative photo. Photo: Nizil Shah, CC BY-SA 4.0.

New route replaces the Rajkot alignment

The change affects Vande Bharat trains 26901/26902 and replaces the current routing via Viramgam, Surendranagar, Wankaner and Rajkot. A July 24 route and timetable report listed Gandhigram, Dholka, Dhandhuka, Botad, Dhola, Dhasa and Junagadh as the intermediate stops between Sabarmati and Veraval on the revised corridor.

The August 9 announcement adds a permanent stop at Chital in Amreli district from the same August 17 date. Amreli Lok Sabha member Bharat Sutariya said he had asked the Railway Minister for a stoppage in the district.

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Dholka and Botad timings on the revised route

A July 24 station-by-station timetable attributed to Western Railway, published before the Chital stop was announced, has train 26901 leaving Sabarmati at 06:00, reaching Dholka at 06:50 and departing at 06:52. It is then due at Botad at 08:20, leaving at 08:22, before reaching Veraval at 12:50.

In the opposite direction, train 26902 is scheduled to leave Veraval at 15:50. It is due at Botad at 19:30 and departs at 19:32, then reaches Dholka at 21:00 and leaves at 21:02 before arriving at Sabarmati at 22:25.

The Chital announcement does not give an arrival or departure time for the new stop. Passengers planning journeys from August 17 should therefore confirm the final station schedule through the Indian Railways train schedule enquiry before travel.

What changes for passengers?

The rerouting will move the service onto the Gandhigram–Botad corridor while retaining Junagadh on the way to Veraval and adding access through Dholka, Botad and Chital. The August 9 report also says the revised service will allow pilgrims to make a same-day round trip to Somnath.

For Amreli district, the confirmed change is the permanent Chital stop from August 17. The exact Chital timing remains the key timetable detail still to be confirmed before the revised service begins.

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