Goa, Nov. 14 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially flagged off the Yesvantpur-Mangaluru-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express on Friday, November 13, establishing a direct, daytime rail link between Bengaluru, coastal Karnataka, and Goa. While the Vande Bharat fleet is widely associated with record-breaking speeds, this newest addition stands out for a very different reason: it is both the longest-duration Vande Bharat chair car service and the slowest-averaging train of its kind in India.

Spanning more than 13 hours end-to-end, the service averages roughly 53 to 54 kmph. Rather than engineering limitations on the train itself, the modest pace is dictated by challenging terrain and railway infrastructure. A significant portion of the line be...