Title - Extension of Intercity Express to Coimbatore welcomed

The “first ever” extension of a train from Kerala to Coimbatore is expected to bring in a lot of benefits to the people of this Coimbatore region.Talking to The Hindu , convener of the Railway Struggle Committee G.K. Nagaraj said that the proposed extension of the Intercity Express (22609/10) from Mangalore to Palakkad up to Coimbatore would result in people of this region getting to travel to temple towns with ease.The train would provide connectivity for visiting the temples such as Udupi, Kollur Mookambika, Sringeri, Dharmasthala, Sringeri, Annapoorneswari and Thalai Cauvery.In addition, this train would also bring down the travel time to Mumbai. At present, the Coimbatore – Kurla Express takes 30 hours to reach Kurla while the Jayanthi Janata takes nearly 34 hours. From July 1, Coimbatoreans wanting to travel to Mumbai could use the Intercity Express to Mangalore and then take a connecting train to reach Mumbai in just 28 hours, Mr.Nagaraj said.Mumbai travellers could board the Intercity Express at 6 a.m. and reach Mangalore at 1.40 p.m. and then board the Mangalore – Mumbai Express (12134) at 4.45 p.m. to reach Mumbai at 10.30 a.m. the next day. In the return direction, the travellers from Mumbai could take the Madhya Skandha Express (12619) at 3.20 p.m. and reach Mangalore at 10.15 a.m. the next day to board the Intercity Express from Mangalore at 12 noon to reach Coimbatore at 7.30 p.m.