Vaigai, the Express which saw many firsts, turns 48
2
Madurai: Madurai railway division's flagship train, Vaigai Express, completed 48 years of service on Friday. Rail enthusiasts marked the milestone by cutting a cake alongside retired loco pilots who once helmed it.
Introduced on Aug 15, 1977, between Madurai and Chennai, the train holds a special place in
Indian Railways
' history as the country's first metre-gauge train to run at 100 kmph. It was also the first train to have a pantry car in metre gauge, which until then was exclusive to overnight trains. In 1979, it began running with YDM-4A (Metre gauge - Diesel - Mixed traffic) locomotives. It introduced the first 42-seat air-conditioned coach in a metre-gauge train in 1994, and in 1995, ran with a YAM-1 (Metre gauge Alternating current Mixed traffic) electric engine between Chennai and Villupuram.
Converted to broad gauge in 1997, Vaigai Express initially ran with 16 coaches, which expanded to 24 in 2006. Electrification between Chennai and Trichy was completed in 2008 and extended to Madurai in 2014. In 2018, with the commissioning of double lines between Madurai and Chennai, journey time was reduced to 7 hours 35 minutes from 7 hours 55 minutes.
Rail enthusiast Arun Pandian said Vaigai Express has been a pioneer in multiple aspects of Indian Railways.
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"Whenever new features are introduced, Vaigai is often among the first to get them, like the introduction of tube lights in the coaches," he said, adding that further travel time reductions are possible through coordinated operational efforts.
Recalling his 11 years driving the train, retired loco pilot Deva Raj, 82, said, "I still remember the 1996 floods that washed away tracks near Villupuram, forcing us to halt for two days.
Apart from that, it was all sweet memories."
Some enthusiasts believe the train's journey time could be cut further to about six-and-a-half hours by raising its top speed. Friday's anniversary programme ended on a nostalgic note, with rail fans sharing stories, posing with memorabilia, and clicking photos beside the cake-cutting toasts. Around 50 enthusiasts even made a same-day trip to Chennai on the train before returning to Madurai to join the celebrations.
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