The regular service of the train will start from Mangaluru on June 10 and from Kochuveli on June 14.Kochi: The Kochuveli - Mangaluru junction Antyodaya bi-weekly Express (16355/16356) will be flagged off by union minister of state for railways Rajen Gohain at a function to be held at Kochuveli on Saturday, 10.30 am.
The regular service of the train will start from Mangaluru on June 10 and from Kochuveli on June 14. The train will start from Kochuveli at 9.25 pm on Thursdays and Saturdays. It will reach Mangaluru at 9.15 am the next day. The service from Mangaluru starts at 8 pm on Fridays and Sundays to reach Kochuveli at 8.15 am. The train will ply via Alappuzha.
Antyodaya express has stops at Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Shoranur, Kozhikode and Kannur. Demand has been raised for introducing stops at Kayamkulam, Alappuzha, Tirur and Kasargode also.
The inaugural special service will leave Kochuveli at 10.30 am and reach Mangaluru at 10.45 pm. Antyodaya Express is fully unreserved but with special fares. It has cushion seats and all coaches have water dispensers providing purified water. There are 16 general coaches.
The minister will also inaugurate the Punalur – Shengottai broad- gauge track at a function to be held in Punalur at 1.15 pm. Local people are hoping that the central minister would announce new trains on the route during the inauguration.
The new building of the Chenganassery railway station will also be opened by the minister at 4.45 pm.
Meanwhile, it is pointed out that the launch of the Kochuveli - Bengaluru train announced back in 2014 is not in the schedule of the minister. Though the Thiruvananthapuram division as well as south west railway have expressed their willingness to operate the service, certain officials of the southern railway have sabotaged the move.
The operating section at southern railway headquarters has said that the train service cannot be conducted owing to shortage of loco pilots. However, the service of Coimbatore – Bengaluru Uday AC double decker train is being launched by the central minister at Coimbatore on Friday. This train was announced after the Kochuveli – Mangaluru Antyodaya Express.
The Kerala Bengaluru train users’ forum has said that this reflected the southern railway’s step motherly attitude towards Kerala. The forum warned of intense agitations if the central government did not take urgent measures to start the Kochuveli - Bengaluru train service. According to the forum, the actions taken by the railways strengthen the suspicions of rail users hailing from Kerala that senior railway officials were sabotaging the weekend service to favour the private bus lobby.
