There has been no announcement till now regarding special train from Visakhapatnam to Kollam and back during the festival season.
The 18567/68 weekly express has been getting very good patronage ever since its launch four years ago as travellers to Kerala preferred the train during the peak season. During the festival season (Nov 15 to Jan 16), all berths on this trains are booked much in advance.
The Visakhapatnam Region of APS RTC has been operating ‘Sabarimala special’ buses every year for the past several years to cash in on the demand during the festival season. This year it has announced advance bookings for the forthcoming season and even opened a special counter, about 10 days ago to enable Sabarimala pilgrims to book their tickets.
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It had also announced special buses to the Pancharama Kshetras to enables devotees to visit the Siva temples on Mondays during Karteeka masam.
On Oct 10, Visakhapatnam Malayalees Welfare Association general secretary M.P. Kuriakose and its president N. Dhanapalan wrote to General Manager of ECoR Umesh Singh, apart from submitting a copy to the Divisional Railway Manager, seeking the introduction of special trains and early announcement of the same so that passengers could book their tickets in advance.
They sought the approval of the GM for special trains from Nov 14, 2017 to Jan 2.
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“There is no official announcement on the special train from Visakhapatnam to Kollam, so far”, Mr. Dhanapalan, who is also national general secretary of the All India Malayalee Association, said on Monday.
B. Madhu Gopal