Increase frequency of weekly trains from Visakhapatnam Junction, demand rail users

High-demand Visakhapatnam trains face weekly patronage despite calls for daily service, leading to overcrowding and passenger inconvenience.

Highly patronised trains from Visakhapatnam Junction have been run weekly for over a decade despite passengers’ demand to increase their frequency. Given the high demand, rail users say they should have been converted into daily trains.

Visakhapatnam Junction aces the list of top 20 railway stations in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The number of passengers and the earnings are increasing multifold with the growth in population of the biggest city in Andhra Pradesh, according to information obtained under the Right To Information (RTI) Act by Kanchumurti Eswar of Duvvada in Visakhapatnam.

The 18503 Visakhapatnam-Sai Nagar Shirdi (SNSI) Express, introduced in 2012, had an average occupancy of 167.72% between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, and 165.21% between April 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024.

Similarly, Train no. 18567 Visakhapatnam–Quilon (Kollam), introduced in 2014, had an average occupancy of 164.41% and 163.98% during the same period.

Also, train no. 20803 Visakhapatnam–Gandhidham SF Express, introduced in 2014, had an occupancy of 197.94% between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, and 179.07% between April 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. Train no. 22801 Visakhapatnam-Chennai Central Weekly SF Express had an average occupancy of 138.8% and 139.92% during the same period.

“The Waiting List (WL) has increased from 227 to 805 for the period from April 2024 to December 2024, which reflects the high demand on these routes. These weekly long-distance trains reach their destination and return from there on the very next day, and there are no other direct trains on the route. Further, there are no direct flights from Visakhapatnam to Shirdi, Varanasi, Ayodhya and Gandhidham, compounding the woes of pilgrims,” says Mr. Eswar, who is also a Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) Member of East Coast Railway (ECoR).

Pilgrims and tourists visiting these holy places prefer to stay for a few days and visit nearby temples and tourist attractions. However, he said they cannot wait a week to catch the next direct train. He sought to increase the frequency of these high-demand trains for the convenience of passengers and to increase railway revenue.