Thiruvananthapuram: The New Delhi bound Rajdhani Superfast Special embarked on its return journey from here on Friday night with around 295 passengers.

The train left the Thiruvananthapuram railway station at around 7:45pm, railway sources said.

All passengers were asked to reach early and ensure they have their e-ticket and e-pass.

By 3pm, the passengers began coming to the station, and the check-in process went off smoothly.

Health screening was done after which they were allowed to board the train.

The train is expected to reach Ernakulam Junction, the second stop, at 11:10pm and leave for Kozhikode, which is the last stop of the train in Kerala.

The special train will touch Mangalore, Madgaon, Panvel, Vadodara and Kota before reaching New Delhi on May 17.

It had reached here this morning with around 1000-odd passengers, of whom seven were shifted to hospitals following symptoms of COVID-19 infection.

The train which started from Delhi at 11:30am on Wednesday reached Thiruvananthapuram at 5:40am on Friday.

The Railways had stopped running passenger trains since March 22 this year. Only goods and parcel trains were being operated till May 1 in the wake of the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Railways had decided to run six Rajdhani trains between Kerala and New Delhi in a week, to help those who had been stranded after the Centre enforced a lockdown.

The New Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram train will run on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday every week, while the return trains will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. These trains will run via Konkan route.