Malabar Express

The 16629 / 16630 Malabar Express is an Express train service in India, named after the Malabar Coast, the south-western coastal region of India from Mangalore Central to Thiruvananthapuram Central. As the name suggests, it connects the two ends of the Malabar region (the Southern and the Northern). The train has one of the longest running time between Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram Central.

History
The train initially ran between Madras and Calicut from 1888 & later extended to Mangalore to become Malabar Express. On July 1, 1940, the train route was extended to Cochin Harbour Terminus which later got extended to Thiruvananthapuram Central to become Trivandrum Mangalore Malabar Express

Traction
It is hauled by an Erode based WAP-4 or Royapuram based WAP-7 electric locomotive on its entire journey.

Service
This train runs between Mangalore Central and Thiruvananthapuram Central. The train no. 16629 starts from Trivandrum at 18:40 hours and reaches Mangalore at 10:25 hours the next day. In the return direction, train no. 16630 leaves Mangalore at 18:15 hours and reaches Trivandrum at 09:00 hours the next day. It runs via Trunk route Kottayam

Coach composition
It has 23 coaches (10 sleeper class, 4 3-tier AC, 1 2-tier AC, 1 AC first class-cum-2-tier, 5 second class, and 2 brake van-cum-second sitter).

Route and halts
This train has 51 halts. Some of the halts are:
 * Mangalore Central
 * Kasaragod
 * Kotikulam
 * Kanhangad
 * Nileshwar
 * Cheruvathur
 * Thrikaripur
 * Payyanur
 * Pazhayangadi
 * Kannapuram
 * Valapattanam
 * Kannur
 * Thalassery
 * Vatakara
 * Kozhikode
 * Tirur
 * Shoranur Junction
 * Thrissur
 * Irinjalakuda
 * Chalakudi
 * Angamaly
 * Aluva
 * Ernakulam Town
 * Kottayam
 * Tiruvalla
 * Chengannur
 * Kayamkulam Junction
 * Kollam Junction
 * Paravur
 * Varkala Sivagiri
 * Kadakkavoor
 * Kazhakuttam
 * Thiruvananthapuram Pettah
 * Thiruvananthapuram Central