Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday virtually flagged off the inaugural special Vande Bharath train between Mangaluru Central and Kasaragod stations to mark the extension of Train. Nos 20631/20632 Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram Central Vande Bharat Express trains to Mangaluru Central.
The Prime Minister virtually flagged off the service at 9.35 a.m. and inaugurated other development projects from the Operations Control Centre of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor in Gujarat.
The special Vande Bharat train to Kasaragod departed the Mangaluru Central Railway station at 9.40 a.m. It travelled with a speed of over 100 km per hour to reach Kasaragod at 10.15 a.m. In return from Kasaragod, the train departed at 10.30 a.m. to reach Mangaluru Central around noon. Several rail activists, rail fans and some students from a school in Kavoor in Mangaluru travelled in the special train.
Regular service from today
The regular services of 20631 and 20632 Vande Bharath trains between Mangaluru Central and Thiruvanantapuram will start from Wednesday. The train will leave Mangaluru Central at 6.25 a.m. and reach Thiruvananthapuram at 3.05 p.m. In return it will leave Thiruvananthapuram at 4.05 p.m. and reach Mangaluru Central the next day at 12.40 a.m. It will have stops at Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Tirur, Shoranur Junction, Thrisur, Ernakulam Junction, Alappuzha and Kollam Junction.
Speaking ahead of the flagging off ceremony, Dakshina Kannada Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel said the new train will be convenient for people of the region to visit Ananthapadmanabha temple in Thiruvannantapuram, Sabarimala, Mata Amritanandamayi Mutt and other religious places in Kerala. The train service will be helpful to a good number of Keralities staying in Mangaluru and other parts of Dakshina Kannada. With movement of traders between the two regions, economy in the region will see tremendous growth, he said.
Mr. Kateel said Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has provided Vande Bharath trains each to connect Mangaluru with Madgaon and to Thiruvananthapuram respectively. He is hopeful of launching the Vande Bharath train to Bengaluru in June with completion of electrification work between Manglauru-Bengaluru railway stretch in May.
Ayodhya-Mangaluru train service
The MP said a direct train service will shortly start between Mangaluru and Ayodhya. He has sought direct flight between Mangaluru and Ayodhya, he said.
The Union government has spent ₹2,650 crore for development works in railway sector in Dakshina Kannada in the period between 2019 and 2024. Of this, ₹685 crore worth works have been completed, while ₹ 1,550 crore worth work was in progress. The Rail work worth ₹ 417 crore has been approved, he said.
Mangaluru City South MLA D. Vedavyas Kamath, MLC Kota Srinivas Poojary, Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur and Additional Divisional Railway Manager of Palakkad division of Southern Railway S. Jayakrishnan also spoke. Divisional Railway Manager of Palakkad division Arun Kumar Chaturvedi was present.
A stall each in Mangaluru Central and Mangaluru Junction railway stations, which are among the stalls set up by Southern Railway to sell local products in major railway stations, were also opened on the occasion.
Published - March 12, 2024 08:14 pm IST
