Pathanamthitta: The Railways' refusal to operate weekend special trains despite having five sets of coaches of various trains.
Meanwhile, complaints are rife that the Railways is considering the request to run additional services from Thiruvananthapuram to destinations like Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Mangaluru on Fridays and Sundays.

The special services could easily be operated using the coaches that are available at Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam, sources said. Currently, these coaches are not part of any train service. The rakes of five weekly trains like Mumbai CST-Thiruvananthapuram Express, Kachiguda-Nagercoil Express, Thiruvananthapuram- Nizamuddin Express, Ernakulam-Nizamuddin Express and Kochuveli-Bengaluru Humsafar Express that run two weekly services are available for special services at the Thiruvananthapuram division.

The Railways would earn additional income and passengers would be benefited if special services are operated using these coaches. Moreover, on Fridays and Sundays demand for tickets is more than the supply on the Thiruvananthapuram-Mangaluru sector. Besides,  passengers face difficulties as there aren’t any daily trains from Mangaluru to Thiruvananthapuram after 6.15 pm.

Passenger associations point out that there aren’t enough services from Kerala to Bengaluru on Sundays. Netravati Express is the only daily service available from Thiruvananthapuram to Mumbai.

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Passengers have been constantly demanding a daily service to Mumbai from Kottayam via the Konkan region. Even though the Kochuveli-Managaluru Antyodaya Express could be operated on three days a week, authorities turn a blind eye to the request, they point out.

Passengers say the Railways, which comes up with a zillion excuses for not allowing new services or routes , should at least consider operating special trains.

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(The Railways did not respond to our repeated attempts for a quote. The copy will be updated, as and when officials respond.)

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