The Visakhapatnam-Krishnarajapuram-Visakhapatnam bi-weekly Tatkal Superfast special is running to full capacity.
Sleeper Class coaches have been fully booked for all trips and AC coaches are also having 80 to 90 per cent occupancy. This is despite premium charges being collected for this train.
The special leaves Visakhapatnam at 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Wednesdays and reaches Krishnarajapuram (a suburb of Bengaluru) at 2.50 p.m. the following day.
In the return direction, the train leaves Krishnarajapuram on Sundays and Thursdays at 4.30 p.m. and arrives in Visakhapatnam by 11.30 a.m. the following day. This train had been launched by the East Coast Railway on June 6 after a long drawn battle by thousands of Telugus living in Bengaluru, who had been insisting on a direct train between the two cities.
The train has 16 coaches, including one AC II-tier, four AC III-tier, four sleeper, five general second class, two second class-luggage and brake vans. “Last week, the train arrived in Visakhapatnam two hours late and this week (Monday) it has improved by being only 55 minutes late,” M. Venkat, who travelled by this train, said. The train has been announced for seven trips only and Telugus living in Bengaluru are demanding that it be regularised. The two weekly specials being operated between Visakhapatnam and Chennai on Mondays and Fridays are also having immense patronage. Passengers are seeking a daily train between these two cities at convenient timings.
The stoppage at Duvvada to Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad Garibrath (12739/40) has been regularised from July15, according to Duvvada Railway Users’ Association secretary K. Eswar. The halt has been given on an experimental basis for six months from January 14.
