Palakkad: The Railway Board in an official communication sent to the Southern Railway has confirmed that Kerala’s second Vande Bharat will have regular stoppage at Tirur, the highest-earning railway station in Malappuram district.
Tirur was not included in the list of stops announced earlier and it is believed that the inclusion came as a result of public demand and request from people’s representatives including ET Muhammed Basheer, Member of Parliament from Ponnani.
In the official communication, the Railway Board has also announced the train numbers of the rakes. The Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram Central Vande Bharat Express will have the train no 20631 and the Thiruvananthapuram Central-Kasaragod Express will hold the train no 20632.
As per the timetable officially released on Friday, train no:20631 which leaves for Thiruvananthapuram from Kasaragod at 7 am will reach Tirur at 9.22 am. Meanwhile, train no: 20632 from Thiruvananthapuram will reach Tirur at 8.52 pm.
Reservation details on Saturday
At the same time, the authorities are yet to announce when the public can start reserving their travel tickets. “The regular service of the second Vade Bharat will start on September 26 and the reservation details will be announced on Saturday only,” said a senior official from Palakkad railway division.
Earlier on the day, railway passengers and various political parties had organised a protest march to the Tirur railway station, demanding stoppage for the Vande Bharat.
Later, MP ET Muhammed Basheer had written on his Facebook page that the Railways announced a stoppage for the new Vande Bharat train at Tirur.
“In the last few days, the Railway Minister and the concerned persons were met in person for this purpose. Now, efforts are on to allow stoppage for the first Vande Bharat, too at Tirur,” he wrote.
