Kanyakumari railway patrons seek extension of any one of three TVM-Mangaluru overnight trains to Nagercoil

The Kanyakumari District Railway Users’ Association has urged the Railway Ministry to extend any one of the three overnight trains between Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru Central to either Kanyakumari or Nagercoil or Tirunelveli

The Kanyakumari District Railway Users’ Association has urged the Railway Ministry to extend any one of the three overnight trains between Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru Central to either Kanyakumari or Nagercoil or Tirunelveli.

At present there is no overnight train from Kanyakumari region towards Mangaluru and northern Kerala thereby depriving the residents of the area hassle-free travel to places beyond Thrissur in Kerala, said association secretary P. Edward Jeni in a memorandum to the Ministry.

People desirous of travelling by overnight train to these areas have to take a bus till Thiruvananthapuram to get any one of the three overnight trains towards Mangaluru.

While there is only one overnight train from Nagercoil to Thrissur in northern Kerala (Train 16127 Chennai Egmore-Guruvayur Express, departing Nagercoil at 9.43 p.m.), the remaining services are daytime trains, including Train No. 16606 Nagercoil-Mangaluru Central Ernad Express (2 a.m.), Train No. 16650 Nagercoil=Mangaluru Central Parasuram Express (4.15 a.m.), Train No. 16382 Kanyakumari-Pune Express (9 a.m., upto Thrissur) and Train No. 16525 Kanyakumari-Bengaluru Express (10.30 a.m., up to Thrissur).

Mr. Jeni said Kanyakumari district residents had been demanding extension of any one of the three overnight trains — 16347/348, 16603/16604 or 16629/16630—from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangaluru Central to Nagercoil or Kanyakumari or Tirunelveli. They preferred Train Nos. 16347/16348 because of its convenient timetable, he added.

Terminal congestion at the Nagercoil station could be solved by extending Train No. 06641 /06642 Tirunelveli - Nagercoil Express Special to Kochuveli; Train No. 66304/66305 Kollam- Kanniyakumari MEMU to Tirunelveli, and Train No. 06433/06428 Thiruvananthapuram – Nagercoil Express Special and 16366 Nagercoil-Kottayam Express to Tirunelveli.

With this, Train No. 16347/16348 Thiruvananthapuram Central-Mangaluru Central-Thirvuananthapuram Central daily express could conveniently be extended to Nagercoil, he suggested.