Here’s how you can travel from Vizag to Tirupati by trains

Tirupati, a city under the Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh, receives thousands of devout Hindu pilgrims every year. The Sri Venkateswara temple situated at the hill town Tirumala is one of the most important religious sites in the country. This temple draws a lot of tourists from around the state as well as the rest of the country to Tirupati. Most pilgrims in the state also visit the Simhachalam temple in Visakhapatnam and hence, there is heavy commute between Vizag and Tirupati. Most of these pilgrims travel from Vizag to Tirupati by trains.

Since there are no non-stop flights between Visakhapatnam and Tirupati, going by rail is the shortest, cheapest and most comfortable option. The Visakhapatnam-Tirupati train route falls on the Howrah-Yeswantpur lines which is one of the busiest rail routes in the country. It takes about 12 hours at the least to travel from Vizag to Tirupati by trains. There are many trains you can choose from, some that run on a daily basis and some weekly. Not just that, with the Covid-19 situation in the country, there are also a few special trains between these two cities.

Here are a few important trains from Visakhapatnam to Tirupati:

#1 Train no. 12863 Howrah Yeswantpur express which departs from Visakhapatnam at 10:55 AM and arrives at Tirupati at 11 PM, taking about 12 hours. This train runs on a daily basis.

#2 Train no. 02845 Bhubaneswar-Bangalore Cantt Special which departs from Visakhapatnam at 2:20 PM and reaches Tirupati at 2:08 AM the next morning. This train runs every Sunday.

#3 Train no. 08479 Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Special which departs from Visakhapatnam at 7:15 PM and arrives in Tirupati at 8:10 AM the next morning. This train operates every Saturday.

#4 Train no. 17488 Visakhapatnam-Tirupati Special, also known as Tirumala Festival Special, departs from Visakhapatnam at 2 PM and arrives at Tirupati at 4:55 AM the next day. This train runs on a daily basis and is your best option for visiting the temple early morning.

#5 Train no. 12660 Gurudev Express which departs from Visakhapatnam at 2:25 PM and reaches Tirupati at 3:23 AM the next day. This train only runs on Thursday in a week.

#6 Train no. 22707 Tirupati AC Double Decker Express which leaves from Visakhapatnam at 10:25 PM and arrives in Tirupati the next day at 11:35 AM. This double decker train runs three days in a week.

Other than these trains, there are many other trains that you can pick from for your travel from Vizag to Tirupati. During the pandemic, Railways is also running 4 special trains on the Visakhapatnam-Tirupati route which are- Tata Yeswantpur Special (02889), Howrah Puducherry Special (02867), Howrah Yeswantpur Special (02873), Hatia Yeswantpur Special (02835). There are other trains that you can book which don’t stop at Tirupati but stop at Renigunta Junction, which is about 30 km from the Tirumala temple.

With all this info on trains, you can plan out your pilgrimage to Tirupati from Vizag and travel blissfully to pray to our Gods.

You can also check out the trains from Visakhapatnam to New Delhi if that’s in your travel plans.