Very true Dan. There is also political reasons for this as you know. We now have 7 stops between Karunagapalli to Kottayam in a span of 70 KMS! This is too much for a long distance train. See the stops - Karunagapalli, Kayamkulam, Mavelikkara, Chengannur, Tiruvalla, Changanassery & Kottayam.
Have seen some fights in few forums where there is heated debate that a person from Tiruvalla cannot imagine to travel mere 8 or 9 kms and take train from Changanassery (district changes!!) This is an issue for almost all trains in Kerala in TVC-KTYM. How can we speed up trains.