Pathanamthitta: The Southern Railway has recommended two new trains for Kerala, to be considered at the meeting of the All India Time Table Committee that begins on April 10 in Jaipur. The Thiruvananthapuram division has asked for weekly trains from Kochuveli to Bengaluru and Guwahati. Meanwhile, there are complaints that the Palakkad division didn’t propose any trains or services in the Malabar region.
The only suggestion from here is to extend the Bengaluru – Coimbatore Uday Express up to Palakkad via Pollachi. However, the demands for extending a few trains that end their journey at Kannur up to Mangaluru, Kozhikode – Ernakulam MEMU service and allowing more trains in the Palakkad – Pollachi route weren’t considered. Meanwhile, eight new trains have been recommended by the various divisions in Tamil Nadu.
Even though there are suggestions to solve the lack of proper services to Mumbai, new trains via Konkan region have not been asked. Meanwhile, the proposal is to extend the Kanyakumari – Pune Jayanti Express up to Mumbai and to make the Kochuveli – Kurla bi-weekly service to five days a week. The recommendation to extend the Dhanbad – Alleppey Express up to Kochiveli would resolve the issue of a severe shortage of trains from Alappuzha to Thiruvananthapuram. Besides, Parasuram Express would be extended from Nagercoil to Kanyakumari in order to increase the number of coaches. Two trains that end their journey in Ernakulam too might be extended to Kottayam.
Chennai – Thiruvananthapuram Superfast Express would end its journey at Kochuveli to avoid delays for the Vanchinadu and Intercity trains to Thiruvananthapuram in the mornings. Southern Railway hasn’t handed over the list for Vandebharat sleeper trains even though other zones have done so. Kerala has demanded Vandebharat sleeper trains from Thiruvananthapuram to Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi.
