The concept of Garib Rath started with the vision to provide air conditioned berths at a comparatively low price for the people who could not afford to travel in AC coaches. Garib-rath phrase translates to poor man's chariot in English. The fare in this train is almost two-thirds of regular third ac fare. Usually Garib Rath have Third AC (3A) class only excepting some 1-2 trains which also have Chair Car (CC) class. The compartments of these train coaches have 9 berths making an extra space for side middle berth which is not there in any other train in India. In case passengers want to have bedrolls they need to pay separately for it. Some garib-raths run as fast as rajdhani, but they have lesser priority for track clearance compared to them. These trains are painted green with a yellow colored strip along the window panes. 1 garib-rath train runs from Mangalore to Kottayam - Mumbai LTT Thiruvananthapuram North (Kochuveli) Garib Rath Express (PT) (12201).

Mangalore to Kottayam Mumbai LTT Thiruvananthapuram North (Kochuveli) Garib Rath Express (PT) (12201) departs from Mangalore Jn station (MAJN) at 08:10 and arrives Kottayam station (KTYM) at 16:22. Mangalore to Kottayam garib-rath fare is Rs.575 in Third AC and Rs.500 in Chair Car for this train.