Pathanamthitta: In further good news for rail commuters in Kerala, the Railways may allot one more Vande Bharat service operating through the state. The authorities are mulling over deploying the high-speed train in either the Ernakulam-Bengaluru or Thiruvananthapuram-Coimbatore sections. This is following the availability of a spare train, in possession of the Thiruvananthapuram Division, after the railways decided to extend the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragode Vande Bharat Express via Alappuzha to Mangaluru.
Upon the train being extended to Mangaluru, the maintenance and repair works would be carried out there, and the service could be operated without a spare rake, thereby making it available for an additional service. Though Kerala has been demanding a Vande Bharat service in the Ernakulam-Bengaluru route for some time, the same is yet to be provided, given there is no facility for carrying out the maintenance works. However, an electrified pit line will be commissioned at Ernakulam soon.
Hibi Eden MLA recently submitted a letter to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, stressing the necessity for the Bengaluru-Ernakulam service. The letter pointed out that the service if scheduled to depart from Bengaluru at 5 am, would be immensely useful for hundreds of rail commuters.
Similarly, Palakkad MP V K Sreekandan, and Coimbatore MLA Vanathia Sreenivas, who is also the National President of Mahila Morcha, have approached the railway minister with a demand to start Coimbatore-Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat service. At present, the next daily train to Thiruvananthapuram from Coimbatore, after the departure of Island Express at 3 am, is Sabari Express at 8 am.