Railway announces more special trains for Diwali: Latest schedule

Complaints were rife that there weren’t enough special trains from Chennai to Kerala ahead of the Pooja holidays. The Chennai-Sengottai special train was extended to Kottayam only at the last moment.

Meanwhile, the railways have now announced a bunch of special trains on the busy Bengaluru route to manage the rush in this sector.

A special train has been running from Thiruvananthapuram North to Bengaluru on Sundays for the past six months, addressing the weekend rush on this route. 

Earlier, there were only two services, the Island Express and the Kochuveli-Mysuru Express, from southern Kerala to Bengaluru on Sundays.

Meanwhile, more than 800 buses reportedly operate daily services from Kerala to Bengaluru.

Despite being the busiest sector, the South West Railway has never allowed any special trains on this route.

Quite contrary to this, the South West Railway has now announced a few special trains ahead of the primary festival season. 

Although the number of coaches in the Madurai – Bengaluru Vande Bharat has been increased to 16, more than 700 seats remain vacant on weekdays.

Meanwhile, passengers have been complaining that the railway has shown complete apathy towards their demand to launch the Vande Bharat service on the Ernakulam–Bengaluru route.

More trains from Bengaluru to Kerala are required on Saturdays than on Mondays and Tuesdays. But there are only two trains from Bengaluru to southern Kerala.

VN Praveen, a regular passenger on this route, suggests that these special trains should be made permanent, considering the high demand for tickets in them.