Demand Increases to Extend Mangalore Central-Thiruvananthapuram Central Express to Kanniyakumari

There is a high demand to extend train no. 16348/16347 Mangalore Central-Thiruvananthapuram Central-Mangalore Central overnight Express to Kanniyakumari to provide direct connectivity between Mangalore and Kanniyakumari. Various passenger associations in Kanniyakumari district have urged the Railway Ministry for an overnight train connectivity between Mangalore and Kanniyakumari has long been pending.

Both Mangalore and its surrounding areas and Kanniyakumari attract thousands of tourists, both leisure and religious. Tourists and pilgrims wishing to travel between these two important destinations face difficulties due to the lack of a direct overnight train. Notable pilgrimage centres around Mangalore include the Kollur Mookambika Temple, Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt, Kukke Subrahmanya Temple, Sringeri Sharada Peetam, and Dharmasthala. Likewise, in Kanniyakumari district, important sites such as the Bhagavathi Amman Temple, Nagaraja Temple in Nagercoil, Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Gandhi Mandapam, Suchindram Sri Thanumalayan Swamy Temple, and Thiruvattar Adi Kesava Perumal Temple were the prominent ones visited by tourists. An overnight train connecting the two cities would have boosted the tourism industry considerably.