Railway denies Vande Bharat services delay passenger trains

At a time when rail passengers are complaining about inordinate delays due to the Vande Bharat trains, the Railways has said that slight changes in the timings of a couple of trains have shown improvements in their running time. In a communique issued by the Southern Railway, it said that a slight revision in the timings of the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam passenger and the Alappuzha-Ernakulam passenger has resulted in an improvement in their running time.

The slight revision in their running time was “inevitable as it runs through an intervening single-line section of Ernakulam Jn and Ambalappuzha spanning 70 km”, the Railways said. However, the change in their timings has not affected the inordinate delays, instead, the punctuality of the “two trains has either shown improvement or has remained nearly the same post-Vande Bharat Express”, the communique said.

To restore the pre-Vande Bharat timings of these two passenger trains, the Railways also moots an alternative option. It has suggested routing Vande Bharat services via the Kottayam double-line section.