Southern Railway, which has discontinued a number of stops during the post-COVID-19 period, is now looking to restore or allow more permanent stops for trains across the state. At least a dozen trains operating in the state have been given new permanent stops at various stations in Kerala in the past few weeks.
Trains included Mangaluru Central-Kanyakumari-Mangaluru Central Parasuram Express at Vaikam Road from November 1, Nilambur Road-Thiruvananthapuram North Rajya Rani Express at Karunagapally from October 30, Thiruvananthapuram North-SMVT Bengaluru-Thiruvananthapuram at North Humuvananthapuram North Junction November at North Guruvayur-Madurai Junction Express at Perinadu from October 22, Thiruvananthapuram Central-Kannur Jan Shatabdi Express at Changanassery from 9 October, Nagercoil Junction-Kottayam Daily Express at Oachira from 3 September, Ernad Express at Sasthamkotta from 4 September and Palarauvi Express from 8 September at I.
Further, the Chennai Egmore-Guruvayur Express has recently been allotted stops at Haripad, Chirayinkeezu, Kadakkavur and Paravur. Most of the special trains that pass through Changanassery railway stations now have assigned stops. There are around 50 to 100 special train services during the festival season and during the Sabarimala pilgrimage season it would be around 300 services and all these trains now have a stop at Changanassery.
Railway sources said the reason behind the sharp increase in the allocation of permanent additional shutdowns is due to political pressure rather than operational reasons. Southern Railway has discontinued a number of stops for trains operating in the state during the post-pandemic period, citing low passenger patronage and revenue. Most of the disrupted stops for trains were between midnight and 4am. For example, Irinjalakuda lost the midnight stop of trains like Malabar Express and Mangalore Express, which have not yet been restored despite improvement in ridership and revenue from the station.
As per train halting policy, halt is provided for different categories of trains based on revenue generated from each station. The state also has reason to cheer ahead of the vote as the third Vande Bharat link is allotted for Kerala from Ernakulam to Bengaluru, a long pending legitimate demand of passengers. The new service is expected to be launched virtually on November 7 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from this, nine Amrit Bharat stations in Kerala will also be inaugurated before the elections.
Published – 01 Nov 2025 19:05 IST
