T’puram: Vande Bharat trains running in the state are among the top 10 popular services in terms of occupancy in the country with the Thiruvananthapuram to Mangaluru service topping the charts. Ranked number one in the top 10 popular premium services, the Thiruvananthapuram-Mangaluru Vande Bharat has 187.78% occupancy. Its return trip to Thiruvananthapuram has 173% occupancy and is ranked number three. The Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat, with 172.87% occupancy, is ranked number four while the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Vande Bharat, with 159.36% occupancy, is ranked number seven. While the Railways is touting this as an achievement and sign of popularity of the premium service, passengers say that a shortage of reliable and convenient trains makes Vande Bharat trains popular. The number of people who travel across the state, especially between Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam and between Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode and Kannur, is high on weekdays and on weekends. Even as people barely get seats on night or day services, the Railways has not introduced trains and MEMU services, passengers said. Krishnakumar P of Thrissur Railway Passengers Association said that the occupancy rate of these trains is high because it is not end-to-end travel. “Most of the people are travelling locally in sections like Mangaluru to Kozhikode, Kozhikode to Ernakulam, Ernakulam to Thiruvananthapuram,” he said. Krishnakumar added that it is high time that the railways considered this as a sign that there is a need for more inter-city passenger services. “The railways should understand the trend and should introduce passenger services, including 16-car MEMU, within the state. There can also be AC MEMU trains between Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. There should be more AC chair car coaches on trains, and coaches should be added to passenger trains wherever it is feasible. The Vande Bharat to Bengaluru is not yet 20 coaches, though the patronage is good,” he said. Krishnakumar also said that people continue to prefer trains because of their comfort and convenience and are ready to spend even though highways have improved in north Kerala. “In addition to this, the railways should speed up doubling work and modernization of signals,” he added. However, the quality of service is dipping as the Mangaluru Vande Bharat has been suffering delays in the last few days.
