Seventy trains operated by Southern Railway will run faster from October 1, according to the new timetable released by Southern Railway general manager Vashishta Johri on Friday. Eighteen trains running through Tamil Nadu and Kerala, but operated by other zones, have also been speeded up.
Of the 70 trains, the journey time of 42 trains, including popular ones like Nellai, Guruvayur, Rameswaram and Rockfort Express, has been decreased by 30 minutes or more. The maximum decrease of 90 minutes has been effected for the Chennai-Manamadurai Silambu Express and Rameswaram-Chennai Express. The latter has been converted into a superfast train.
Johri said trains couldn't be speeded up to the maximum possible extent due to constraints like incomplete doubling on the Chennai-Madurai stretch, lack of terminal and platform space, and high sectional capacity. Further decrease in running time would be effected only in the next timetable he said.
The arrival and departure timings of 59 trains from Chennai Central and Egmore have been changed. Six new trains, including Antyodaya, Humsafar and Uday Express, have been introduced in the zone. They will be introduced before the next budget, Johri said.
Passenger associations have pointed out that unlike other zones, Southern Railway has released the timetable on the eve of the changes being effected.
"This will cause confusion among passengers. Like other zones, Southern Railway could have released it a week in advance. Now, they should send text messages to all passengers with confirmed tickets regarding the revised train timings," said A Giri, a rail passenger activist in Trichy.
Railway officials said they would send SMSes as well as deploy station officials to sort out the confusion. Regarding the last minute release of the timetable, chief operations manager S Anantharaman said it was a tradition to release it on September 30.
Parrying questions on special trains, Johri said that the zone was facing a shortage of coaches.
Of the 70 trains, the journey time of 42 trains, including popular ones like Nellai, Guruvayur, Rameswaram and Rockfort Express, has been decreased by 30 minutes or more. The maximum decrease of 90 minutes has been effected for the Chennai-Manamadurai Silambu Express and Rameswaram-Chennai Express. The latter has been converted into a superfast train.
Johri said trains couldn't be speeded up to the maximum possible extent due to constraints like incomplete doubling on the Chennai-Madurai stretch, lack of terminal and platform space, and high sectional capacity. Further decrease in running time would be effected only in the next timetable he said.
The arrival and departure timings of 59 trains from Chennai Central and Egmore have been changed. Six new trains, including Antyodaya, Humsafar and Uday Express, have been introduced in the zone. They will be introduced before the next budget, Johri said.
Passenger associations have pointed out that unlike other zones, Southern Railway has released the timetable on the eve of the changes being effected.
"This will cause confusion among passengers. Like other zones, Southern Railway could have released it a week in advance. Now, they should send text messages to all passengers with confirmed tickets regarding the revised train timings," said A Giri, a rail passenger activist in Trichy.
Railway officials said they would send SMSes as well as deploy station officials to sort out the confusion. Regarding the last minute release of the timetable, chief operations manager S Anantharaman said it was a tradition to release it on September 30.
Parrying questions on special trains, Johri said that the zone was facing a shortage of coaches.