PM Modi to flag off Mangaluru-Rameswaram and Tambaram-Mangaluru Amrit Bharat Express on March 1

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off four new train services, including the much-awaited weekly Mangaluru Central-Rameswaram-Mangaluru Central Express, and an Amrit Bharat Express between Tambaram and Mangaluru, at Madurai on March 1.

Mr. Modi would also flag off the Coimbatore-Dhanabad Amrit Bharat Express and the Nagercoil-Charlapalli Amrit Bharat Express from Madurai. He would also dedicate eight stations developed under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme under Southern Railway to the nation.

While the Railway Ministry is yet to issue a final notification on the timetable, route and en-route stops for the new trains, the Tambaram-Mangaluru AB Express is likely to be operated out of Mangaluru Junction as a weekly service, sources in the Railways said.

On the other hand, the weekly Mangaluru Central-Rameswaram-Mangaluru Central Express was sanctioned in April 2024, but the service did not start so far.

As per the timetable approved in 2024, the weekly service (Train No. 16622) would depart Mangaluru Central on Saturdays at 7.30 p.m. to reach Rameswaram on Sundays at 10.50 a.m. via Palakkad, Madurai and Manamadurai.

Also read: Two newly-introduced Amrit Bharat Express trains start serving travelling public in western districts

The Rameswaram-Mangaluru Central service (Train No. 16621) departs Rameswaram on Sundays at 3.30 p.m. to reach Mangaluru Central at 6.55 a.m. the next day.

Welcoming the introduction of the Rameswaram service, Pashchima Karavali Railway Yatri Abhivriddhi Samithi President G. Hanumanth Kamath said the decades old demand of the people of coastal Karnataka for a direct train service to the holy place is getting realised now. He hoped that the Railway Ministry would increase the frequency of the train from weekly to at least tri-weekly for the benefit of pilgrims in the coming days.