A long-term proposal to extend the Bengaluru-Kannur Express to Kozhikode may finally reach fruition with the Southern Railway officials responding positively at a meeting of MPs in the Palakkad division.
Southern Railway General Manager John Thomas, who chaired the meeting, informed Kozhikode MP M.K. Raghavan that the proposal was under the active consideration of the Railway before the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1. Previously, the South Western Railway had agreed to the extension plans of the express train.
At the meeting, Mr. Raghavan blamed the Railway for delaying the proposal on the grounds of lack of platform at Kozhikode railway station despite the South Western Railway giving its consent and the availability of sufficient time to reach Kozhikode.
Train number 16512 starts from Kannur at 4.50 p.m., reaches Mangaluru at 7.50 p.m., and reaches Bengaluru the next day at 6.50 a.m. Train number 16511 starts from Bengaluru at 9.30 p.m. and reaches Kannur at 10.55 a.m. the next day.
The officials said the proposal would be considered after Mr. Raghavan suggested that the existing Mangaluru-Kozhikode Express Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) service be extended to Palakkad. That would solve the issue of absence of a platform at Kozhikode as well as benefit train commuters in the Malabar region. The Railway will also actively consider extending the Thiruvananthapuram-Madurai Amritha Express (via Palakkad) to Rameswaram.
