Nagercoil MP Helen Davidson and Vilavancode MLA Vijayadharini flagged off the Kanyakumari-Dibrugarh Vivek Express Train in Kanyakumari on Saturday.
The train, covering 4,278 km in 82 hours, crosses the States of Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu to become the train service to cover the longest route of the country. Since a large number of people from Kerala are working in Assam, particularly in Dibrugarh, patronage for this train there is quite high, railway sources said.
Speaking to reporters after the flagging-off ceremony, Divisional Railway Manager, Thiruvananthapuram, Rakesh Agarwal said the ongoing electrification work between Madurai and Kanyakumari would be completed as early as possible. The Tamil Nadu government should establish a sub-station at Eranial as it had been decided to complete the electrification work between Kanyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram before the end of this fiscal.
Since the number of commuters travelling between Kanyakumari/Nagercoil and Thiruvananthapuram everyday was quite high, the possibilities of operating suburban trains between these places were being studied.
Asked whether an additional train between Kanyakumari and Chennai would be operated, Mr. Rakesh said the suggestion would be forwarded to the higher-ups.
