Route diverted ISLAND EXPRESS Day after DERAILMENT
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Catch the extremely rare spotting of the legendary Island Express train powered by Diesel Locomotives after almost a decade. Island is a daily Express train that connects the Southern most tip of India Kanyakumari to Bangalore City .
On...
more... 5th Feb '2016 Train number 16525 Kanyakumari - Bangalore City Island Express derailed near Patchur on the Jolarpettai - Bangarpet section ,140 KM's away from Bangalore. Rail fracture seems to be the cause of the derailment.Fortunately there were no causalities reported. Due to line blockage and restoration work the next days Island Express bound to Bangalore was diverted via Salem - Dharampuri - Hosur (Alternate Salem-Bangalore line) .
Island Express use to run on this route when the Bangalore - Hosur line was converted to Broad Gauge in 1998. The train later got routed back to its original route via Bangarpet-Salem so that it can run on Electric Locomotive as the entire stretch between Bangalore , Trivandrum - Nagercoil and Cape Comorin gradually got electrified.
Kanyakumari known as Cape Comorin during the British Rule in India.
A WAP4 Locomotive from ERODE Electric Shed powers the Train for its entire journey.
The train got its name as ISLAND EXPRESS reason being the predecessor of this train used to end its journey at the Cochin Harbour Terminus station in Willingdon Island, Cochin till the mid 1970s. At that time, it was the only train that connected Bangalore (Karnataka state) to Kerala. People still call this train as Island Express though Indian Railways no longer uses this name officially.This was the only daily train between Bangalore and Kerala until early 2006 and still plays a very important role in terms of connectivity for the people of Kerala State.
Locomotive : KAZIPET / KZJ WDG4D + WDG4 Electromotive Diesels.
Train : 16525 / 16526 Kanyakumari - Bangalore Island Express.
