Proposal to extend Goa-Mangaluru Vande Bharat Express to Kozhikode awaits PMO’s approval

Low occupancy a setback for the superfast express train service

The move to extend the Goa-Mangaluru Vande Bharat Express to Kozhikode appears to be getting delayed even as railway officials acknowledge the extension as the only solution to the challenges in operating the service.

The existing service operates throughout the week, except Thursdays, but struggles with less than 50% occupancy on most days. By extending the train to Kozhikode, the Railways expected to compensate for the loss, sources said.

Earlier, M.K. Raghavan, MP, had taken up the matter with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, pointing out that the extension would benefit a large section of commuters from north Kerala. Two months ago, Mr. Vaishnaw had assured P.T. Usha, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, that he would take a sympathetic approach to the demand to extend the train to Kozhikode and said that the proposal was under the active consideration of the Railway Ministry.

The Goan Malayali community has also been demanding its extension for quite some time.

As of now, Vande Bharat Express departs from Mangaluru at 8:30 a.m. and reaches Madgaon at 2 p.m. It halts at Udupi and Karwar stations. It departs from Madgaon at 5:35 p.m. and reaches Mangaluru at 10:45 p.m.

The extension of the train to Kozhikode is feasible and economical. However, a final decision would have to be taken by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which was monitoring the operation of Vande Bharat Express trains, sources said.

Railway sources said that the Mangaluru-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express required an additional 2.5 hours to cover the Mangaluru-Kozhikode stretch. The only obstacles are the weekly maintenance and scheduling of the timings of the train without disturbing the Konkan railway corridor.

Already, the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Vande Bharat Express has been extended to Mangaluru. The timing shows that Kozhikode-Mangaluru journey takes three hours and Mangaluru-Kozhikode takes two-and-a-half hours only.

Published - October 08, 2024 09:17 pm IST