GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2393

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 04.08.2017

BI-WEEKLY TRAINS BETWEEN THIRUVANATHAPURAM AND BENGALURU

2393. SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a)Whether Government is aware that the bi-weekly train (No. 22657/58) between Thiruvanathapuram Central and Bengaluru has not begun operation despite being announced in the Railway Budget of 2013;

(b)The reasons behind not starting this service even after four years of its announcement; and

(c)By what date does Government plan to begin operations of the said route?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a)to (c)Introduction of Premiun Express trains on specific high demand sectors had been announced in Railway Budget 2014-15. They were proposed to be run on seasonal and occasion-specific instances when the demand for travel goes up. Keeping this in view, introduction of Train No. 22657/58 Thiruvanathapuram-Bengaluru Premium Express (Bi-weekly) had been announced. The train ran 34 trips (up and down) between the period of September 2014 and January 2015. As of now, the running of Premium Express trains has been stopped with the introduction of Suvidha Express trains.

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