Daijiworld Media Network - Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 15: The Parasuram Express running between Kanyakumari and Mangaluru has emerged as the train with the highest occupancy in India, underscoring exceptionally high demand on key Southern Railway routes.

The train records an occupancy of 267.67% based on reserved seat booking data, indicating that, on average, up to four passengers are travelling per reserved seat during the journey.

Notably, eight of India’s top 10 trains in terms of occupancy operate in Kerala, highlighting the sustained pressure on the state’s busy rail corridors.

Six of these services are operated by Southern Railway, including the Mangaluru–Kanyakumari Parasuram Express, Thiruvananthapuram–New Delhi Kerala Express, Kanyakumari–Katra Himsagar Express, Ernakulam–Okha Express and Gandhidham–Nagercoil Express.

Kerala leads in Vande Bharat occupancy rankings

Kerala also features prominently in the Vande Bharat Express occupancy rankings, with four trains from the state among the top 10 in the country.

The Thiruvananthapuram–Mangaluru Vande Bharat Express leads the list with an occupancy of 187.78%.

The Vande Bharat services placed in positions two to 10 are: Varanasi–Meerut (181.53%), Mangaluru–Thiruvananthapuram (173.33%), Kasargod–Thiruvananthapuram (172.87%), Meerut–Varanasi (172.16%), Patna–Gomti Nagar (163.08%), Thiruvananthapuram–Kasargod (159.36%), Ajmer–Chandigarh (158.21%), Delhi–Jodhpur (156.69%) and Gomti Nagar–Patna (155.97%).

The figures highlight consistently high passenger demand on Kerala-linked rail routes across both conventional and semi-high-speed services.