Even a month after the Bengaluru-Kannur overnight express was extended to Kozhikode, there has been no official order to this effect.
Train no 16511/512 Bengaluru-Kannur-Bengaluru overnight express, which was earlier Bengaluru-Managluru express, was extended to Kannur in 2009 upon demand from Kerala, despite strong protest from passengers in Karnataka. It was on January 23 that the Railway Ministry approved the Southern Railway’s proposal to extend it further to Kozhikode and suggested that the extension should happen at the earliest convenient time. There are intensified protests against the extension in Karnataka this time as well.
The authorities are yet to issue any official order in this regard. “We are awaiting orders from the Southern Railway Headquarters in Chennai. It is likely to take some time before the extension is tested and finalised,” sources at the Palakkad Division of Southern Railway told The Hindu on Tuesday.
The extension of the said train with halts at Thalassery, Vadakara and Koyilandy has been announced after repeated pleas from the north Kerala region citing overcrowding in trains during peak hours as well as scarcity of trains to Bengaluru where a large number of people from the State constantly travel to. The train that leaves Kozhikode at 3.30 p.m. would also cater to the office crowd to some extent.
Meanwhile, Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnav had told Kozhikode MP M.K. Raghavan earlier in February that the Goa-Mangaluru Vande Bharat Express may be extended to Kozhikode. However, there have been no official orders in this regard either. The Goa-Managluru Vande Bharat is running in loss with only 40% occupancy, quite contrary to the success of the Vande Bharat services in Kerala. By extending the train to Kozhikode, the railways expect to compensate for the loss.
On the other hand, the extension of the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Vande Bharat express to Mangaluru, which was announced on February 20, may soon come into effect. “The service starts next week. There will be no change in the existing schedule of the train,” Railway sources said. The running of Vande Bharat trains are directly monitored by the Prime Minister’s office.
