Kerala's new Amrit Bharat trains to be flagged off today: Passengers disappointed about timing and stops

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be in Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow, will flag off three new Amrit Bharat Express trains for Kerala at 10.45 am. The non-AC trains will have features similar to Vande Bharat trains and can carry over 1,800 passengers, at a speed of 130 km/hour. These are in addition to the re-launch of the Guruvayur-Thrissur MEMU passenger. The new trains are expected to improve connectivity to Tambaram and Hyderabad's Charlapalli. However, many passengers opine that the new trains will not solve the state's crisis much. Rail passengers’ association 'Friends on Rails' recently raised a couple of issues, stating that due to these, Kerala's train commuters will continue to have a tough time.  

The new trains
Mangaluru Junction-Nagercoil (16330 ): Will leave Mangaluru at 8 am to reach Nagercoil at 10.05 pm on Wednesdays
Nagercoil-Mangaluru Junction(16329): Will leave Nagercoil at 11.40 am on Tuesdays to reach Mangaluru at 5 am on Wednesdays
The trains will operate via Kottayam and will have 20 stations, including Kasaragod, Kannur, Thalassery, Kozhikode, Tirur, Shoranur, Thrissur, Aluva, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Changanassery, Tiruvalla, Chengannur, Mavelikara, Kayamkulam, Karunagappalli, Kollam, Sivagiri, Varkala, and Thiruvananthapuram Central.

Tambaram-Thiruvananthapuram Central(16121): Will leave Tambaram at 5 pm on Wednesdays and reach TVM Central at 8 am on Thursdays
Thiruvananthapuram Central-Tambaram (16122): Will leave Thiruvananthapuram Central at 10.40 am on Thursdays and reach Tambaram at 11.45 pm the same day.
They will be operated via Nagercoil. The trains will stop at 15 stations, including Kulitturai, Nagercoil Town, Valliyur, Tirunelveli, Satur, Kovilpatti, Virudunagar, Madurai, Dindigul, Tiruchchirappalli, Srirangam, Ariyalur, Vriddhachalam, Villupuram and Chengalpattu.

Thiruvananthapuram North-Charlapalli(17042): Will leave Thiruvananthapuram at 5.30 pm on Wednesdays and reach Charlapalli at 11.30 pm on Thursdays
Charlapalli-Thiruvananthapuram North(17041 ): Will leave Charlapalli at 7.15 am on Tuesdays and reach Thiruvananthapuram North at 2.45 pm on Wednesdays.
The trains will be operated via Kottayam. They will stop at 29 stations, including Varkala Sivagiri, Kollam, Karunagappalli, Kayamkulam, Mavelikara, Chenhannur, Tiruvalla, Changanassery, Kottayam, Ernakulam Town, Aluva, Thrissur, Palakkad, Coimbatore, Tirrupur, Erode, Salem, Jolarpettai, Katpadi, Tiruttani, Renigunta, Nellore, Ongole, Bapatla, Tenali, Guntur, Sattenapalle, Miryalaguda and Nalgonda.

Passengers highlight issues
According to rail passengers, the Mangaluru Amrit Bharat Express (16329) takes 17 hours to reach Mangaluru from Nagercoil. Meanwhile, the railway has also allotted 17 hours for Parasuram (16650), from Kanyakumari to reach Mangaluru. The train has 54 stations on this route. Besides, Parasuram halts for almost an hour at Kozhikode in the evening. Passengers complain that the new Amrit Bharat's schedule is worse than Parasuram’s. 

Meanwhile, the train's return trip departs Mangaluru at 8 am and reaches Nagercoil by 10.05 pm, under 14 hours. As Amrit Bharat closely follows Eranad, stopping at every station in the morning, the passengers in the Malabar regions would continue to struggle as they wouldn’t have any train services for hours after that, says the association. Besides, they say it's ironic that the train that has sleeper coaches is in service only during the day. The unnecessary buffer time can force the train to stop for hours at the station outskirts, turning the metal compartments into furnaces. 

Passengers have also been urging the authorities to allow stops at Ettumanoor, Piravom, Tripunithura, Angamaly, Chalakkudy, Irinjalakkuda, Vadakkancherry, Kuttipuram, Thanoor, Parappanangadi, Feroke, Koyilandi, Vadakara, Payyannur, and Kanhagad stations for the train launched for the common man. They say that if the train doesn’t save any running time, then more stops must be allowed so that the service would at least be beneficial for them. 

Passengers say it is quite unfortunate that the railway stations renovated under the Amrit Bharat category were ignored as well. After the Malabar Express at 6.45 pm from Mangaluru, the next daily train to Thiruvananthapuram is only at 5 am the next morning. Biweekly or weekly services like the Antyodaya are the only trains that are available on this route during the gap. The people of Malabar, who have been struggling with a lack of night train services, were pinning their hopes on Amrit Bharat. However, the timing and the insufficient number of strops have disappointed them. They are dejected that the train wasn’t even considered as a biweekly service. The Thiruvananthapuram – Thambaram and Thiruvananthapuram – Hyderabad services, too, have disappointed the passengers who hoped that the new Amrit Bharat services would be enough to solve their travel woes. The buffer time is also longer for these trains.