Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod Vande Bharat Express line to run till Mangaluru

BJP workers led by Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan receiving the Vande Bharat Express train at Kochuveli in Thiruvananthapuram. Photo | B P Deepu, EPS

MANGALURU: The railway ministry has approved the proposal to extend the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod Vande Bharat Express up to Mangaluru.

According to a statement by Vivek Kumar Sinha, Joint Director (Coaching), Railway Board, the Mangaluru-Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express (Train No. 20631) will leave Mangaluru at 6.15 am and reach Thiruvananthapuram at 3.05 pm on six days a week except Wednesday.

In the return direction, Thiruvananthapuram-Mangaluru Express (Train No 20632) will leave Thiruvananthapuram at 4.05 pm and reach Mangaluru at 12.40 am six days a week except Wednesday. Enroute, the trains will stop at Kasargod, Kannur, Kozhikode Main, Tirur, Shoranur, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Kollam.

The statement says that the extension of the trains may be given effect from an early convenient date. The primary maintenance of these trains will be done in Mangaluru.

Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel who had requested the railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav to extend the train has thanked him for approving the same.