Southern Railways will begin daily operations of three fully reserved additional special trains from June 12. The advance reservations for the three trains – Tiruchy to Chengalpattu, Arakkonam to Coimbatore, Tiruchy to Chengalpattu – will open from 8 am on Wednesday.
The three trains are the first batch of railway transportation to ferry passengers in the state daily as the coronavirus lockdown restrictions end.
The train services were suspended from March 25 owing to the nationwide lockdown announced by the central government. Following the lockdown, the Centre operated special Shramik trains to transport stranded migrants to their native states.
According to a release from Southern Railways, the superfast intercity special train between Tiruchy and Chengalpattu, superfast intercity special train between Arakkonam and Coimbatore, and special train between Tiruchy and Chengalpattu will start daily operations from Friday.
The superfast intercity special train between Tiruchy and Chengalpattu will have four stoppages including Ariyalur, Villupuram Junction, Melmaruvathur and Chengalpattu. The train will depart from Tiruchy at 7 am and reach Chengalpattu junction at 11.30 am. Similarly, on the way back the train will depart from Chengalpattu junction at 4.45 pm and reach Tiruchy by 9 pm. The passengers can book tickets in the following coaches: two AC chair cars, 14 non-AC chair cars and five general second class chair cars.
The superfast intercity specials will ferry passengers between Arakkonam and Coimbatore with six stoppages. The trains will stop at Katpadi, Jolarpettai, Salem, Erode Junction, Tirupur and Coimbatore Junction. The train will start from Arakkonam at 7 am and reach Coimbatore by 2 pm. On the return journey, the train will start from Coimbatore at 3.15 pm and reach Arakkonam at 10 pm. The coaches available in the train include two AC chair cars, 14 non-AC chair cars and five general second class (Sitting) coaches.
A special train from Chengalpattu to Tiruchy with seven stoppages will also start from Friday. The train will stop at Melmaruvathur, Villupuram, Tiruppadirippuliyur, Mayiladuthurai, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur and Tiruchy. The train will start from Tiruchy at 6.30 am and reach Chengalpattu at 12.40 pm. Similarly, the train will start from Chengalpattu at 2 pm and reach Tiruchy at 8.10 pm.
Southern Railways has decided to run two trains from Chengalpattu when the district has recorded a total of 1,850 COVID-19 cases as of Monday.