The 20665/20666 Chennai Egmore - Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Express (also known as Nellai Vande Bharat Express) is India's 28th Vande Bharat Express train, which is running across the state of Tamil Nadu by connecting the cities of Chennai, Villupuram, Tiruchirappalli, Dindigul, Madurai and Virudhunagar, and terminating at Tirunelveli. This train was inaugurated on 24 September 2023, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conference from New Delhi.
This train is operated by Indian Railways, which connects Chennai Egmore, Tambaram, Villuppuram Jn, Tiruchchirappalli Jn, Dindigul Jn, Madurai Jn, Virudhunagar Jn, Kovilpatti and Tirunelveli Jn. It is currently operated with train numbers 20665/20666 on 6 days a week basis.
It was the twenty-sixth 2nd Generation and fourteenth Mini Vande Bharat 2.0 Express train which was designed and manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory at Perambur, Chennai under the Make in India Initiative.
As per latest reports, Prabhakar Gunaseelapandian, Deputy Chief Operating Manager (COM), Southern Railways issued a statement that the current running rake would be converted to 16-car rake as this would benefit the passengers heading towards the city of Tirunelveli and other key stations like Tiruchirappalli, Dindigul, Madurai & Virudhunagar. This conversion of 8 coaches to 16 coaches commenced on January 15, 2025, right after the Tamil Nadu's harvest festival, Pongal.
As per new fresh updates on September 16, 2025, Southern Railways announced that this express train will be further augmented with 4 additional AC coaches, starting from September 24, 2025, on its 2nd birthday anniversary it will run with a new Vande Bharat 3.0 trainset, in response to long-standing passenger demand for additional capacity on this busy TirunelveliâÂÂChennai route.
The 20665/20666 Chennai Egmore - Tirunelveli Jn Vande Bharat Express operates six days a week except Tuesdays, covering a distance of in a travel time of 7 hours with an average speed of . The service has 6 intermediate stops. The Maximum Permissible Speed is .
Some of the pictures of this express train shown below:-
On 4 February 2024, glass windows in six coaches suffered damage when it almost reached Naraikinaru railway station around 10:08 PM, as unidentified culprits pelted stones at the speeding train at night. No casualties were reported during this incident.
On 7 December 2024, the 4 coaches from C4 to C7 of Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Express did not open the closed automated doors at Dindigul Junction railway station and the train departed. After some time, the train was made to stop at Kodaikanal Road railway station for an unscheduled halt and passengers to Dindigul were sent there by MysuruâÂÂTuticorin Express. The railways said it is the mistake of the guard who forgot to open doors of all coaches, as that was the first time he was having duty in Vande Bharat Express and he boarded after crew change at Tiruchirapalli Junction.