Sporting ICF coaches, Kerala’s oldest long-haul train struggling to move on

KASARGOD: Around 3pm, the electric locomotive pulls into Kanhangad railway station, bringing in its wake the yellow and maroon liveried rakes of the 12602 Mangaluru Central-MGR Chennai Central Mail — for its scheduled two-minute stop.

The train bears history, as the first long-haul service to have chugged into Kerala — the erstwhile Malabar presidency to be precise — in 1867, 14 years after the country’s first passenger railroad made it from Bori Bunder to Thane. And it seems to be having trouble shaking off its legacy, as it continues to operate the old, rugged Integral Coach Factory (ICF) cars, while most other trains have moved on to modern Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) coaches.