In four months, five express trains to skip Central

CHENNAI: In a bid to decongest Chennai Central, five long-distance trains will be diverted via Perambur by March next year. The move comes in the wake of Southern Railway planning to develop Tondiarpet as fourth rail terminal of Chennai City. The five trains operated to Bihar, West Bengal and Assam from Karnataka and Kerala will now skip Chennai Central thus reducing travel time by 90 minutes in both the routes, according to railway sources.

The move will also help reduce the average passenger handling capacity of Chennai Central by 3,000 to 4,000 a day. The five trains that are being diverted are 22641/22642 Thiruvananthapuram - Shalimar -Thiruvananthapuram bi weekly express; 22643/22644 Ernakulam - Patna -Ernakulam bi weekly express; 15227/15228 Yesvantpur-Muzaffarapur-Yesvantpur Weekly Express; 12509/12510Bengaluru Cantonment - Guwahati - Bengaluru Cantonment Tri weeklyExpress and 12515/12516 Thiruvananthapuram - Guwahati -Thiruvananthapuram Weekly Express.

“The trains from Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru and Yesvantpur will be operated upto Perambur. From there, the trains will be diverted to Nayudupeta line via Basin Bridge. Similarly, trains from northern states will be diverted to Perambur,” the sources added.

The move will help railways to serve passengers of originating and terminating trains better and can improve maintenance also. Besides, the platforms can be utilised for operating new trains from Chennai, said an official.

During morning hours, trains operated by Southern Railway and serving the own region (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Mangaluru) have been given priority while allotting platforms. Trains bound for Howrah and other high demand section should be taken out from Chennai Central, the official added.

K Manikandan, a former member of Chennai Division Rail Users Consultative Committee,  welcomed the move and urged railways to provide shelters at Perambur station. “The station should be provided with proper chairs and shelters, before diverting the trains,” he added.

Number crunching
About 65,000 tickets are being sold at Chennai Central, including suburban services, a day
Earnings of Chennai Central stands at D40 lakh a day
About 110 train services operate from Chennai Central a day
Diversion of five trains will reduce the average passenger handling capacity of Chennai Central by 3,000 to 4,000 a day

Okha- Rameswaram Express to skip Erode
Chennai: South Central Railway has announced that Okha - Rameswaram weekly express will skip Erode and operate via Namakkal and Karur. Effective from March 6, 2018, Train no: 16734, Okha - Rameswaram Weekly express will go to Rameswaram via Katpadi, Salem,Namakkal, Karur, Dindigul, Madurai, Manamadurai and Paramakudi. Similarly, on its return journey the train will be operated via Madurai, Karur, Namakkal and Salem, without touching Erode, according to a railway press release