Madurai, Theni railway link back on track

CHENNAI: The newly-converted 75 km broad gauge line in Madurai-Theni section was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. The project was completed at a cost of Rs 506 crore.

The PM also flagged off the inaugural Madurai-Theni unreserved express special through video-conferencing. The regular daily unreserved train will be introduced from Friday. It will leave Madurai at 8.30 am and reach Theni at 9.35 am with stoppages at Vadapalanji (8.44 am), Usilampatti (9.04 am) and Andipatti (9.19 am). On the return journey, the train will leave Theni at 6.15 pm and reach Madurai at 7.35 pm. It will stop at Andipatti (6.28 pm), Usilampatti (6.46 pm) and Vadapalanji (7.04 pm).

The 90-km line between Madurai and Bodi was developed during the British era as narrow gauge between 1925 and 1928 and converted into a meter gauge (MG) line in 1953-54. Two pairs of passenger trains were operated on the line till it was closed on December 31, 2010. The trains had also helped in ferrying cardamom from Bodi to other parts of the country.

 The MG trains received overwhelming patronage from rail passengers and tourists visiting Theni and the Idukki district of Kerala. Work on the last leg measuring 14.3 km of the line between Theni and Bodi is in final stages and expected to be completed in a few months. “The train will be extended to Bodi upon completion of the pending work,” said a senior railway official.