Railway announces more special trains for Diwali: Latest schedule

Complaints were rife that there weren’t enough special trains from Chennai to Kerala ahead of the Pooja holidays. The Chennai-Sengottai special train was extended to Kottayam only at the last moment. Meanwhile, the railways have now announced a bunch of special trains on the busy Bengaluru route to manage the rush in this sector. A special train has been running from Thiruvananthapuram North to Bengaluru on Sundays for the past six months, addressing the weekend rush on this route. 

Earlier, there were only two services, the Island Express and the Kochuveli-Mysuru Express, from southern Kerala to Bengaluru on Sundays. Meanwhile, more than 800 buses reportedly operate daily services from Kerala to Bengaluru. Despite being the busiest sector, the South West Railway has never allowed any special trains on this route. Quite contrary to this, the South West Railway has now announced a few special trains ahead of the primary festival season. 

Although the number of coaches in the Madurai – Bengaluru Vande Bharat has been increased to 16, more than 700 seats remain vacant on weekdays. Meanwhile, passengers have been complaining that the railway has shown complete apathy towards their demand to launch the Vande Bharat service on the Ernakulam–Bengaluru route. More trains from Bengaluru to Kerala are required on Saturdays than on Mondays and Tuesdays. But there are only two trains from Bengaluru to southern Kerala. VN Praveen, a regular passenger on this route, suggests that these special trains should be made permanent, considering the high demand for tickets in them. 

Bengaluru-Thiruvananthapuram services
There will be two services on Saturday, four services each on Sunday and Monday and three trains on Wednesday on this route. Four services have been scheduled for each day, on Thursday and Friday. 
Thiruvananthapuram-Bengaluru services
Four services have been scheduled on Saturdays, while three services each are on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. There will be five trains on Thursday, and four services on Friday. 

Meanwhile, the authorities are urged to reschedule the special trains on Monday and Tuesday to Friday and Saturday. Techies point out that there aren’t many trains from Bengaluru on Saturday. Besides, the passengers also urge to schedule special trains from Thiruvananthapuram to Jaipur and Chandigarh. It would also be helpful if the weekly train to Delhi is extended up to Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, the Southern Railway’s recommendation for a Jaipur special train is currently under consideration by the Railway Board. Besides the Thiruvananthapuram – Hyderabad Sabari Express, there isn’t any other train from Kerala to Hyderabad. The passengers have been requesting the authorities to make the Kollam–Hyderabad special train a permanent one. 

These are the special trains that are announced ahead of the Pooja–Diwali holiday season.
Bengaluru / Hubbali 
06555 SMVT Bengaluru – Thiruvananthapuram North (Fridays) – 13 trips
06556 Thiruvananthapuram North – SMVT Bengaluru (Sundays) – 13 trips
07313 Hubbali – Kollam (Sundays) – 13 trips
073314 Kollam – Hubbali (Mondays) – 13 trips
06523 SMVT Bengaluru – Thiruvananthapuram North (Mondays) – 14 trips

06524 Thiruvananthapuram North – SMVT Bengaluru (Tuesdays) – 14 trips
06547 SMVT Bengaluru – Thiruvananthapuram North (Wednesdays) – 14 trips
06548 Thiruvananthapuram North – SMVT Bengaluru (Thursdays) – 13 trips
06219 SMVT Bengaluru – Kollam (Saturdays) – 3 trips
06220 Kollam – SMVT Bengaluru (Sundays) – 3 trips

Patna (Bihar)
06085 Ernakulam – Patna (Fridays) – 9 trips
06086 Patna – Ernakulam (Mondays) – 9 trips
Mangaluru 
06163 Thiruvananthapuram North – Mangaluru (Mondays) – 10 trips
06164 Mangaluru – Thiruvananthapuram North (Tuesdays) – 10 trips
Hyderabad 
07193 Hyderabad – Kollam (Saturdays) – 7 trips
07194 Kollam – Hyderabad (Mondays) – 7 trips

Kolkata
06081 Thiruvananthapuram North – Sandragachi (Fridays) – 3 trips
06082 Sandragachi – Thiruvananthapuram North (Mondays) – 3 trips
Mumbai 
01463 Mumbai – Thiruvananthapuram North (Thursdays) – 9 trips
01464 Thiruvananthapuram North – Mumbai (Saturdays) – 9 trips
Chennai 
06121 Chennai Central – Kottayam (Wednesdays) – 4 trips
06122 Kottayam – Chennai Central (Thursdays) – 4 trips