Tri-weekly Kochuveli-B’lore train to run daily from March

Thiruvananthapuram: The tri-weekly Kochuveli-Bangalore Express will be made a daily service in March. Railway sources confirmed that an order would be issued in this regard and the service included in the railway time table soon. However, there could be change in its timings. “We had sought a status quo on timings or make it a 12-hour journey from Kochuveli at 8 pm but they could be delayed by a couple of hours owing to the heavy rush at Bangalore Central in the morning hours and the high traffic on the route,” said atop official from the Thiruvananthapuram division. The train leaves Kochuveli at 4.05 pm on Sundays, Mondays and Fridays now and reaches Bangalore at 8.35 am the next day. There are apprehensions that it will be allowed to enter the Bangalore Central station only after 10.30 am. “The Bangalore division authorities are unwilling to advance the timing. Only a political intervention can ensure a 12-hour journey reaching Bangalore before 8 am,” said the officer. Railway authorities had completed all formalities for the daily service announced in budget last year but they decided to continue the tri-weekly service following protests by passengers. Rail users associations, meanwhile, warned of protests if the train timings were revised in a way that it enters Bangalore only after 10 am. “There will be no benefit to passengers if the train reaches Bangalore after 10 am. Such timings will force the passengers to depend on private interstate bus operators,” Thrissur railway passengers association P Krishnakumar said. (Times of India dt 18-1-2013)