Inter-city express to be speeded up

The Railways have decided to speed up the Mangaluru-Madgaon-Mangaluru intercity superfast express due to poor patronage from passengers.
At present, the train departs from Mangaluru at 8.15 am to reach Madgaon at 3.30 pm - a total travel time of 7.15 hours to traverse 319 km with just eight commercial halts.
It leaves Madgaon at 4 pm to reach Mangaluru at 11 pm, the Railways said in a release here.
However, many express trains, including the Matsyagandha Express, which have 14 commercial halts, take only about six hours between the stations. The train has not received much patronage since its launch in 2014.

Presently, only about 60 passengers use the train on an average. The number of coaches has been reduced from 24 to just eight in the last two years and the lone air-conditioned chair car has also been removed.
The new timings of the train will come into effect from October, the release said.