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.