The claim by the Southern Railways that the new coaches introduced on the Venad Express can accommodate 220 passengers each is misleading, according to Friends on Rails, an online platform of rail passengers. The existing coaches, which had 108 seats each, had been replaced with Deen Dayalu coaches offering only 100 seats each. The change, therefore, does not increase seating capacity as claimed by the railway to address overcrowding on the train.

The only advantages are improved ventilation and additional central doors, which facilitate quicker boarding and alighting for passengers.

According to Lyons. J, secretary, ‘Friends on Rails,’ through the announcement that the new coaches can accommodate 220 passengers, the railway implies that at least 10 passengers per coupe should climb up to sit on luggage racks located over five feet high.

Unlike standard sleeper coaches, these coaches lack the steps required to access the luggage racks over five feet high. Further, climbing onto these racks, which were designed solely for luggage, requires significant physical exertion by the passengers. The Railways has marked only seats numbered 1 to 99 in the new coach. In reality, there has been a reduction in the total number of seats. Climbing onto the luggage rack is not an easy task; even if one manages to get up there, there is no room to stretch out one’s legs or let them hang down. If legs are extended, they block the airflow from the overhead fans, leaving passengers seated below to swelter in intense heat, he said.

The railways trivialised the passengers’ plight in a statement issued to the media, which included photographs of the coaches. By pointing to the luggage racks as an option- at a time when the double-decker service lacks adequate seating capacity for even 220 people- the Railways effectively mocked the helpless passengers of the Venad Express.

With the onset of the Mandala pilgrimage season in Sabarimala, the situation is expected to worsen as passengers disembarking from long-distance trains terminating at Ernakulam Junction scramble to board the Venad Express, he added. The outfit also sought the intervention of elected representatives to address the overcrowding on the Venad Express.

Published – October 12, 2026 07:33 pm IST