Trichy: Rail users have appealed to the railway authorities to introduce an intercity express train between Trichy and Chennai via mainline to cater to the needs of the people in Thanjavur and Mayiladuthurai. The train will be highly useful for traders and the business community, they said.
Mayiladuthurai MP S Ramalingam has written to the general manager of Southern Railway on operating a new train on this section. He has stated that the train should be operated via Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai and Villupuram.
The Southern Railway operates only a one-day service (Cholan Express Train Number 06795/06796) between Trichy and Chennai through the mainline, which is not able to cater to the needs of the travelling public living in the section. Moreover, the Cholan Express is a fully-reserved train, which has more air-conditioned sleeper coaches, and non AC sleeper class coaches than ordinary second class coaches, he said.
Moreover, the timing of the Cholan Express is not suitable for the mainline section people to reach Chennai. It is a long pending demand of the people of the delta districts to operate an intercity day train without any reserved coaches, and only with second class sitting coaches suitably to reach the capital before noon, the MP said in the letter.
Meanwhile, the functionaries of Thanjavur District Railway Users Association have welcomed the MPs demand. “Presently Rameswaram-Ayodya Cantonment and Rameswaram-Banaras weekly express trains provide early daytime connectivity to Chennai on Monday and Thursday for the mainline passengers,” A Giri, secretary of the association, said.tnn