The next Vande Bharat Express train for Kerala is likely to run on the Mangaluru Central-Ernakulam route. The service is likely to be restricted till Ernakulam due to the practical difficulties in running a service from Mangaluru to Thiruvananthapuram, Railway sources said.
The electrification work for the maintenance of the Vande Bharat trains has been completed at Mangaluru Central. The train, which will reach Mangaluru from Chennai, will be sent for a trial run using its rake, they said. (Rake is the set of coaches allotted for the train and the composition it gets.)
The timetable will be announced by the Railway Board after the trial run.
The inauguration of the Mangaluru-Eranakulam and Tirunalveli-Chennai Egmoor Vande Bharat trains will be scheduled after taking into consideration Prime Minister Narendra Modi's convenience, sources said.
Though the Southern Railway submitted the timetables for the two services, the Railway Board returned them demanding an increase in train speed, it is learned.
However, there are limitations on reducing travel time due to the maximum speed limit of 80 km on the Ernakulam-Shornur route. Additionally, there are no free platforms at Ernakulam, making it difficult for the service to depart from Mangaluru in the morning and reach Ernakulam before 10 am, a Railway officer pointed out. One possible solution is to extend the service to Kottayam where there are five free platforms. However, the Railways has not considered this option yet, the person said.
The second Vande Bharat train was allotted to the Palakkad division from Chennai Integral Coach Factory (ICF) on Friday.
The first Vande Bharat train sanctioned for Kerala is ahead of other services in the country in terms of passenger numbers. Vande Bharat operates the Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram route at the rate of 183 passengers per 100 seats, meaning over 100 per cent occupancy rate. In the return service from Thiruvananthapuram, the rate is 173 passengers per 100 seats.
