Puducherry-Yeshwanthpur Garib rath withdrawn and will run as Weekly Express

Southern Railway has announced that Yesvantpur-Puducherry-Yesvantpur express will be renumbered as 16573/16574 and run with conventional coaches instead of fully air-conditioned III AC coaches. The present composition of the coaches would be two AC 2-tier, three AC 3-tier, 12 sleeper class, 3 general second class, and 2 second class-cum-luggage coaches. The changes would take effect from March 21 for the train leaving from Yesvantpur and from March 22 for the train leaving from Puducherry. Advance reservation would commence on March 11.

Silambu Express extended to Sengottai

The extended Silambu Express train service from Manamadurai to Sengottai began its journey today (2^nd Feb). This train, which operated twice in a week from July 2013 between Chennai and Manamadurai, was held throughout the day in Manamadurai station. So to make use of this time, the service is extended to Sengottai from today onwards as announced by the Railway Board.

   The Silambu express, which originated yesterday at 8:20p.m from Chennai, reached Manamadurai today at 7.30a.m on the 2^nd platform and then it leaves at 9.30a.m as a special train service to Sengottai. Some of the passengers traveling in the unreserved compartments while the Reservation and AC compartments were left blank.

    MP Maniktakur and others welcomed the extended train in the Arupukkotai railway station. This train will reach Sengottai at 1.30p.m. On reverse, it will start at 2.30p.m from Sengottai and reach Manamadurai at 6.30p.m and after a while it will start to Chennai at 8.15p.m. The train is operated on Wednesday and Saturday from Chennai, and Thursday and Sunday from Sengottai.

Requesting Tiruchi-Bangalore special train to run permanently

The Tiruchi district Exnora has appealed to the Southern Railway to consider making the Deepavali special train between Bangalore and Tiruchi a permanent one to cater to the needs of those regularly shuttling between the two cities.

    The appeal came shortly after the Southern Railway announced the Deepavali special train which will operate from October 28 to November 10.

    The train (06571/06572) will run from Bangalore to Trichy and back via Salem, Rasipuram, Namakkal, and Karur.

    Also, Exnora thanked the Southern Railway for running the special train and stated that the move was a boon for the residents of Tiruchi and is the only day train to help travellers cope with the Deepavali crowd.

“The people of Tiruchi have been demanding a day super fast express train between Bangalore and Tiruchi for a long time. On behalf of the citizens of Tiruchi, Exnora requests the railways to run the special train on a permanent measure” said a statement from Exnora.

Coimbatore-Chennai Duronto likely to be withdrawn

The decision of the Southern Railway to stop the reservation for travel by Duronto Express on the Coimbatore — Chennai — Coimbatore section from December 11, 2013, has given enough indication that the service could be withdrawn citing poor patronage.

   Meanwhile, Railway sources told The Hindu that Southern Railway has written to the Railway Board to convert the Duronto into either a day super fast train or run it as Shatabdi Express with four more halts en route in order to increase patronage. Orders from the Railway Board were expected anytime, the sources added.

   The Duronto introduced on January 27, 2011 will, in all probability, make its last journey from Coimbatore and Chennai Central on December 9. It may be recalled that recently the number of seats under tatkal quota was brought down from 160 to 60, making available 100 seats in the air-conditioned chair car under the ordinary quota.

   According to railway sources, only during the festival period and during weekends, Duronto runs packed to capacity. On other days, of the 600 seats in the AC chair car i.e., in the 10 coaches and 40 seats in executive AC chair car, more than 50 per cent of the seats remained vacant. The train covers the 496 km distance in six hours and 45 minutes with a technical halt at Erode (technical halt means no tickets are issued for this train from or to Erode).

   Railway users pointed out that old coaches, unhygienic conditions and the quality of food offered to the passengers went against the continuation of the service. Decommissioned coaches were used for more than two years and 10 months and never replaced to increase patronage, said Sudha Rani, a regular traveller on the sector.

   Another reason cited for the poor patronage was that the service ran neck to neck with Kovai Express and passengers always had the option to travel on the same route at a much lesser fare.

   Rail activist S. Ravi said that a two minute halt for the train at Tirupur, Erode, Salem and Katpadi would increase the patronage if it were to be run as a daytime superfast or as Shatabdi Express.

With the passenger potential having gone up over the last decade on this sector, Mr. Ravi said if the train were to be operated with new coaches, slight change in timing and four more halts, the service could draw more passengers.

Plea for Nagercoil - Bangalore daily Express train

Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli district residents association of Bangalore has demanded the railway authorities to commence operation of a daily express train service between Nagercoil and Bangalore before Deepavali. This train service was earlier announced in the railway budget. Thousands of people from southern districts are working in IT companies in Bangalore and other industries in Dharmapuri, Hosur and adjoining areas. For more than 15 years, people from the southern districts have been asking the railways to operate a daily train service from Nagercoil to Bangalore via Saleem and Hosur. Meanwhile in the railway budget tabled in February 2013, it was announced that a daily train service from Bangalore to Nagercoil will be operated through Hosur, Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Dindigul, Tirunelveli.

   Though other trains which announced in the budget have started operation, the Nagercoil - Bangalore daily express train has not commenced yet. Festivals like Bakrid, Deepavali, Christmas, New Year and Pongal are upcoming and therefore if the authorities commence operation of the train, it will really benefit the southern people.

New Coimbatore-Rameshwaram exp has good response!!!

The response to the maiden run of the Coimbatore to Rameswaram, to be flagged off on September 17, has been overwhelming. The reservation for the train began on September 8 and had already crossed 50 per cent in just two days. If this was the response in two days and that too for a service on a week day, services during weekends would bring 100 per cent benefit, G.K. Nagaraj of the Coimbatore Railway Struggle Committee said.
 

   Train No 16618 Coimbatore – Rameswaram Weekly Express will depart Coimbatore at 19:45 hrs on every Tuesday and arrive Rameswaram at 06:45 hrs on the next day. In the return direction, Train No 16617 Rameswaram – Coimbatore Weekly express will depart Rameswaram at 19:00 hrs on every Wednesday and arrive Coimbatore at 06:40 hrs on the next day. Enroute these trains will stop at Tiruppur, Erode, Karur, Tiruchchirappalli, Pudukkottai, Chettinad, Karaikkudi, Devakottai Road, Sivaganga, Manamadurai, Paramakudi,Ramanathapuram, Mandapam. Train No.16617 will stop at Coimbatore North also. These trains composition of 1 Air-Conditioned 2-Tier Sleeper, 3 Air-Conditioned 3-Tier Sleeper, 13 Sleeper Class, 2 General Second Class, 2 Second Class (General/Disabled Friendly)-cum-Luggage-cum-Brake Van = 21Coaches.


   Since this train passes through Tirupur, Erode, Karur, Tiruchirapalli, Pudukottai, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram, it serves the travel needs of those who had migrated from the southern districts to Coimbatore in search of employment and setting up businesses, pointed out Coimbatore MP P.R. Natarajan.
 

   Coimbatore remained without rail link with many of these districts because of the Coimbatore-Dindigul –Palani gauge conversion work, said R. Raveendran of the Struggle Committee. The service also brought to an end the near domination of private buses in the night, said Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee members Jameel Ahmed and U.K. Sivagnanam. Meanwhile, the Struggle Committee has appealed to the Railway Ministry to consider increasing the frequency of the train. Also, the train users suggested that the departure time of the train at Coimbatore needed to be delayed by an hour to enable office-goers to plan their journey.
 

Naming the train
Rail activist Mr. Ravi wanted the Rameswaram Express to be named as Textile City or Cotton City Express since Coimbatore housed the South India Textile Research Association, South India Mills Association, Central Cotton Research Institute, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Textile Management and also had several textile mills.
He also added that just as the Coimbatore — Mannargudi — Coimbatore Mannargudi daily overnight train was named Semmozhi Express and the Thanjavur — Chennai Express as Uzhavan Express, the Coimbatore — Tirupati — Coimbatore Express should be named Kovai Srivari Express.

Two train services to benefit Coimbatore

An increase in frequency of service of the Coimbatore — Tirupati Inter-city Express from three days to four days and flagging off of the Coimbatore — Rameswaram — Coimbatore Weekly Express on September 12 and September 17, respectively, is expected to bring cheer to rail users in Coimbatore. Both the services were announced in the Union Railway Budget in February. Now, the Southern Railway and Salem Division are making arrangements to introduce the services.
    
   At present, Train Number 22616 (CBE-TPTY) is operated on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays leaves Coimbatore at 6am and reaches Tirupati at 1.40pm. In the return direction, Train Number 22615 is operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and leaves Tirupati at 2.50pm and reaches Coimbatore at 10.40pm. As announced in the budget, Salem Division is planning to increase the frequency of the train from three to four days by bringing in the operation of the services on Thursdays as well.
 

   Similarly, under a rake sharing arrangement (sharing of coaches and locomotive) with the Coimbatore — Rajkot Express (Train No 16613/16614), Salem Division plans to introduce the Coimbatore — Rameswaram — Coimbatore Weekly Express (Train Number 16617/16618). The rakes of the Coimbatore — Rajkot Express lie idle at Coimbatore from Tuesday morning (2am) to Thursday night (11.45pm.) Under the rake sharing arrangement, Train Number 16617 will depart Coimbatore at 7.45pm on Tuesdays to reach Rameswaram on Wednesday morning at 6.45am. In the return direction, it would depart as Train Number 16618 from Rameswaram at 7.00pm and reach Coimbatore at 6.40am on Thursdays. The rakes would be taken up for maintenance at Coimbatore during day time on Tuesday and Thursday.