Now You Can Book Vande Bharat Tickets Just 15 Minutes Before Departure

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.

How Does The New Feature Of Vande Bharat Work?

The Passenger Reservation System (PRS) has been upgraded. Thanks to this tech update, vacant seats will now show up in real time, and passengers can reserve them up to 15 minutes before the train departs from their specific boarding station.

Until now, the rules were pretty strict. Once a Vande Bharat train left its starting station, you couldn't book a seat from any stop along the way. That meant even if seats were empty, passengers from smaller towns or intermediate stations had no way to hop on. As a result, many trains ran with unoccupied seats while travellers were left stranded. Now, they have more flexibility and better chances of getting a seat.

Which Vande Bharat Trains Offer Last-Minute Booking?

Here is the full list of Vande Bharat Express trains where you can book a ticket 15 minutes before departure:

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

These trains connect key cities across the southern states.

What the Railway Minister Said:

The Vande Bharat trains are already running with over 100% occupancy, which means, there are more passengers than available seats on average.

"The overall occupancy of Vande Bharat Express trains in Financial Year 2024-25 & 2025-26 (till June, 2025) is 102.01% & 105.03% respectively," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in the Lok Sabha on July 30.