Trains to ply faster in Chennai zone from now, announces SR

CHENNAI: Southern Railway has announced a revision in the maximum permissible speed of 44 train services, including in the Chennai-Gudur and Arakkonam-Jolarpettai sections, from the first week of April. Trains plying Chennai-Gudur, Chennai-Renigunta and Arakkonam-Jolarpettai sections (413.62 km) can take a speed of up to 130 km per hour, instead of the previous 110 km.

In various sections including Chengalpattu-Arakkonam, Salem-Namakkal-Karur and Vanchi Maniyachi-Tirunelveli, covering a network of 1,218 kilometres, the maximum permissible speed has been enhanced from 100 to 110 kilometres.

For a network spanning 406 kilometres, such as Coimbatore North-Mettupalayam, Tiruchirappalli-Pudukottai, Gangaikondan-Tirunelveli and Palani-Pollachi, the speed has been augmented to 100 kilometres per hour from the present 80-90 kilometres per hour.

Speed has also been enhanced in loop lines of various sections of Southern Railway for an aggregate length of 1,445 route kilometres across the zone from 15 km to 30 km.

As part of enhancing the sectional speed, a comprehensive upgrade of all infrastructure has been carried out, the release said.

These include complete track renewal, strengthening of bridges, easing of curves wherever feasible, and barricading or construction of walls at locations where there is heavy trespassing.

Several trains to skip Chennai Central station from April 11 to 27

Chennai: Southern Railway has notified changes in the pattern of train services, including the cancellation of some train services, to facilitate engineering works in the Central-Arakkonam section.

Train no: 13352 Alappuzha-Dhanbad Express will be diverted via Perambur skipping stoppage at Central from April 11 to 27. Similarly, train no: 12512 Kochuveli-Gorakhpur Raptisagar Express will be diverted via Perambur skipping stoppage at Central on April 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 23, 25 and 26.

Dhanbad-Alappuzha Express, Korba-Kochuveli Superfast Express, Gorakhpur-Kochuveli Express, Rapti Sagar Express, Ernakulam-Barauni Rapti Sagar Express, Kochuveli-Indore Superfast Express, Indore-Kochuveli Weekly Express and Barauni-Ernakulam Weekly Express will be diverted via Perambur, skipping stoppages at Central.

Several weekly express trains including Korba-Kochuveli Superfast, Yesvantpur-Chennai, Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam-Chennai and Mysuru-Chennai will be diverted to run via Chennai Beach instead of Chennai Central.

Services to be cancelled include Jolarpettai-Erode Express Special (06845) from April 6 to 9, and trains between Erode and Jolarpettai (06411, 06412).