About Kerala Express: New Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram DAILY in THAMPANOOR, Thiruvananthapuram

The Kerala Express is a super fast express train of the Indian Railways that runs between New Delhi and Trivandrum Central in Kerala state. It covers a distance of 3,032 kilometers when it runs from New Delhi to Trivandrum with 40 stops at an average speed of 60 km/h.[1] This train currently holds the record of being the second longest running daily superfast train in India.
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It was introduced in the year 1976 as Kerala-Karnataka Express (KK Express) starting from New Delhi to Trivandrum and Bangalore, with bifurcation at Jolarpettai Jn. Initially, it used to complete the whole journey in 46.5 hours with a long halt at Jolapettai for link/delink of Kerala/karnataka coaches. In 1980, it was split into two trains, Kerala Express and Karnataka Express with Kerala Express again split at Palghat Jn and one of the portions diverted to Mangalore. It overlapped with the Jayanti Janata which bifurcated at Shoranur with one part of the train going to Cochin Harbour and the other to Mangalore. Later, these two trains were merged to form the Kerala Mangala Exp. In 1990, after a separate train to Mangalore was introduced, it began to run along its present route. It was a non daily train initially and had shared the same time slot with the Tamil Nadu Express, Andhra Pradesh Express and the Karnataka Express. However, after its conversion into a daily train it received its own time slot.[2]

It originally was numbered 125/126 but was later changed to 2625/2626 in 1989 after the Indian Railways adopted the four-digit numbering system.[3] In December 2010, the Indian Railways adopted the five-digit numbering system by which the Kerala Express is currently numbered 12625 for upward journey and 12626 for downward journey.[4][5][6]

Kerala express covers more of Andhra Pradesh than AP express, covers more of Tamil Nadu than TN express and hence highly patronised by passengers of three south Indian states to Delhi. Unfortunately, Kerala express given raw deal and lower priority than TN express as can be seen by the numerous minor halts introduced in recent years due to political interferences. For instance, TN express has average speed of 67kmph whereas Kerala express only 60kmph.

Long distance passengers expect Railway board to speed up Kerala express such that it departs origin after lunch and arrives destination before lunch on 3rd day.

Kerala express is the only express train to stop at Vaikom railway station.

Coach Composition[edit]
It is a 24 coach train comprising 7 AC coaches (2 Two Tier AC, 5 Three Tier AC), 12 SL coaches, 4 General Coaches and a Pantry Car. This train is usually hauled by WAP 4 of Erode shed and also has a top speed of 110 kmph.