The Mangaluru Central Madgaon Mangalore Central Vande Bharath is finally in operation, and it’s now a month since the trains commenced on the 30th of December 2023. However, the trains see only 50 percent of passengers. 

Operating as Train number 20646, the trains first saw an occupancy of 37 percent, with the situation remaining almost the same for over a month. It began to look like the only time passengers came forward to fill the trains was on the weekends and other such holidays. 

Things looked better when a return journey on January 26th saw the number increase to around 43 percent. In other words, the train carried over 5000 passengers while it had a capacity of holding over 12,000 of them. 

It is with this view that some passengers feel that the trains can extend their journey to Mumbai, as a lot of people commute to and from the two cities. 

Passengers have even requested the Indian Railways to increase the number of coaches on the train, to bring it up from eight to sixteen. 

The Paschima Karavali Railway Yatri Abhivridhi sent a memorandum to the Southern Railway in Chennai, stating how a lot of travelers preferred the Vande Bharath Express trains. The speed, comfort and hospitable services on the train, all put together, give them a short and sweet journey.
In fact, a lot of people earlier demanded a Vande Bharata Express from Mangalore to Mumbai, but they got an Express train from Mangalore to Goa.  

Samithi President Hanumanth Kamath also suggested that train number 22229/30 which goes from Mumbai to Madgaon can extend to Mangalore. He also stated how the Mangalore to Madgaon trains, which have just two stoppages, at Udupi and Karwar, can add stops at Byndoor and Kumta, to make life easier for tourists who often head there. 

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