THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State government will intervene to block the move to shift the second Vande Bharat train to Tamil Nadu. V. Abdurahiman, the minister in charge of railways in the state, said that he would send a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav requesting that the train to Madurai be started from the state. He was responding to the Kerala Kaumudi report on this.

The Minister said that it is the need of the state to have fast trains. Kerala developed the K. Rail project since there was no such move from the side of the railways. Those in the state will benefit if the train to Madurai starts from Ernakulam or Kottayam instead of Nagercoil. There will be no loss for Tamil Nadu. Currently Kollam-Madurai Express is the train that departs from Kerala and terminates at Madurai. Guruvayur-Chennai Egmore and Kollam-Chennai Egmore trains are via Madurai.

Thiruvananthapuram - Nagercoil track should be doubled

Work on doubling the track from Nagercoil to Tirunelveli is progressing rapidly ahead of welcoming the Vande Bharat train. The Tirunelveli-Madurai track doubling is almost complete. At the same time, the doubling of the Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil road has not yet started. Railway officials say that allowing a new train on the single track will cause delays to other trains on the same route.