The Southern Railway has maintained that the introduction of Vande Bharat trains has not adversely impacted the journey time of passenger trains in the Alappuzha section.
In a clarification issued on Wednesday, it sought to dispel concern among a section of rail users that the introduction of the Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram Central-Kasaragod Vande Bharat Express via Alappuzha had caused the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam and Alappuzha-Ernakulam passenger trains to run late. While it was inevitable to revise the timings of the two passenger trains after the introduction of Vande Bharat services, the overall ‘punctuality’ of these trains either improved or remained almost the same, the press note said.
While the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam passenger was 96% on schedule in September, before Vande Bharat was introduced, its punctuality was 94.73% in November with the Vande Bharat service in place. Further, the punctuality of the Alappuzha-Ernakulam passenger improved from 86.66% in September to 89.47% in November, after Vande Bharat was introduced, said the Southern Railway.
