Coastal Karnataka’s pride, Mangaluru-Mumbai LTT Matsyagandha Express, to get LHB coaches in February 2025

Twenty-five years after it was introduced when the then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Railway Minister George Fernandes dedicated Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. to the nation, the Mangaluru Central-Mumbai LTT-Mangaluru Central Matsyagandha Express will get LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) coaches from February next.

Twenty-five years after it was introduced when the then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Railway Minister George Fernandes dedicated Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. to the nation, the Mangaluru Central-Mumbai LTT-Mangaluru Central Matsyagandha Express will get LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) coaches from February next.

The late Vajpayee and late Fernandes had flagged off Matsyagandha Express while dedicating KRCL on May 1, 1998, in Mumbai. It was the first passenger service train to run on the completed KRCL network of 741 km. Covering 882.5 km in about 17 hours, the Matsyagandha was a game changer in passenger transportation along the Karnataka coast. Thousands of coastal people settled in Mumbai had to endure either a 30-hour bus journey or 40-hour train travel via Kadur.

While Train No. 12620 Mangaluru Central-Mumbai LTT Express gets LHB coaches from February 17, its pairing service, Train No. 12619 will run with LHB coaches from February 19, 2025, according to Southern Railway’s Palakkad Division. As the service has rake sharing arrangement with Train No 16347/348 Thiruvananthapuram Central-Mangaluru Central-Thiruvananthapuram Express, these services too would get LHB coaches from February 16 and 19 respectively.

As the Southern Railway continued to operate the services with old ICF rakes, patrons had demanded introduction of LHB rakes for the premium train.

Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Kota Srinivas Poojary on August 19 had written to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stating the Matsyagandha Express was very close to people of coastal Karnataka. It was the first passenger train launched during the commissioning of KRCL network and continues to be a matter of pride for the people along the west coast. While patrons celebrated its silver jubilee last year, the ongoing dissatisfaction with the ageing ICF coaches persists, Mr. Poojary had said.

Close on the heels of Mr. Poojary’s letter, the ceiling of a 3-AC coach of Matsyagandha Express fell while a passenger managed to duck in time and avoid getting hurt in August this year. Chinmay Kole was travelling Train No. 12619, Mumbai LTT-Mangaluru Central Matsyagandha Express in B1 coach when the incident occurred. When he was entering the coach after buying snacks at an en-route station, the ceiling fell in, he had said.

Consequent to LHB conversion, the Matsyagandha Express would have four 2-tier AC, two each 3-Tier AC and 3-Tier Economy, eight sleeper class, four general second class, one each brake van cum luggage and one generator car coaches.