Matsyagandha Express Between Mangalore – Mumbai Completes Twenty Five Years of Service

Mumbai Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Mangalore Central – a.k.a Matsyagandha Express completes twenty five yeasr of service. The first passenger service train – 12619/620 – ran on the completed Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) network of 741 km between Roha and Thokur near Mangalore, on May 1, 1998. It was flagged off by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and railway minister George Fernandes.

The first passenger train ran on Konkan railway tracks on March 20, 1993, between Udupi and Mangalore. The first train on the completed track was flagged off on January 26, 1998, and the rest is history as it has become the most popular route due to the connectivity it provides to regions hitherto inaccessible by rail, as well as the substantial savings in time for commuters between western and southern India.

A grand welcome was accorded to Matsyagandha Express – when it arrived at Indrali Railway station at 3.48pm from Mangalore, celebrating the silver anniversary of its run on Monday. The Railway Yatri Sangha Udupi felicitated the locomotive pilot and other staff and distributed sweets to the passengers.