Double seating capacity in Venad Express, major change takes effect from yesterday

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The passengers travelling on the Thiruvananthapuram–Shoranur Venad Express will now have more seating space in the general compartments. The train is operating with newly designed coaches that can accommodate 220 passengers in seated positions and another 50 to 70 passengers standing.

The new seats were introduced in the train’s general sitting coaches from yesterday. Ten coaches were replaced yesterday. As a result, the seating capacity, which previously accommodated 108 passengers, has now nearly doubled, while the standing capacity has also increased from 42 passengers.

Reports surfaced last week detailing the miserable travel conditions experienced by passengers on the Venad Express. Following this, Kodikunnil Suresh MP had stated that steps would be taken to address the issue. He had also hinted that a new train service would be introduced on the busy Ernakulam-Kottayam-Chengannur-Kollam route, which sees heavy passenger traffic. It was hinted that the train service from Ernakulam to Kollam, departing at 4 pm, was expected to begin within ten days.

Meantime, the railways had informed that push-back seats would be reintroduced on Jan Shatabdi trains. The coaches of the Thiruvananthapuram–Kozhikode Jan Shatabdi will be modified first. In the second phase, the second-sitting coaches of the Thiruvananthapuram–Kannur Jan Shatabdi will also be replaced.

The older ICF (Integral Coach Factory) coaches had push-back seats. The seating arrangements in the non-AC coaches changed when the Jan Shatabdi trains were upgraded to LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches. The new coaches feature rigid, non-reclining seats similar to those found in MEMU trains.

As these seats caused back pain and other discomfort for passengers, bookings had declined. Southern Railway has shared a photograph of the Jan Shatabdi’s bucket-style seats on its social media pages.