03-05-2025
Travelling public in Coimbatore urge Southern Railway to operate Vande Bharat to Chennai with 16 coaches
The travelling public have urged the Southern Railway to consider operating the Coimbatore- Chennai- Coimbatore Vande Bharat train with 16 coaches by factoring in the high demand for tickets.
The demand has surfaced in the wake of the announcement by the Southern Railway that Chennai Egmore-Nagercoil-Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat Express will be augmented with four Vande Bharat chair car coaches with effect from May 8 from both the ends to clear extra rush.
While there are five other Chennai-bound trains from Coimbatore: Nilgiri Express, Cheran Express, Inter-City Express, Kovai Express, and Shatabdi Express, the demand for augmentation of coaches for the Vande Bharat Express that is operated with only eight coaches has been there for long.
There has been robust patronage for the train and continuous waiting list since its introduction two years ago. The Southern Railway is yet to consider the demand for increasing the number of coaches to 16, J. Sathish, Director, Kongu Global Forum, said.
The train, according to passengers, obviates the need for passengers visiting Chennai for quick purposes. The train starting from Coimbatore at 6 a.m. reaches Chennai Central at 11.50 a.m. In the return direction, the train starts at 2.15 p.m. and reaches Coimbatore Junction at 8.15 p.m.
The waiting time of close to two-and-a-half hours has turned out to be hugely beneficial to passengers from Coimbatore travelling to Chennai and returning on the same day. Passenger patronage for the train is quite high from Tiruppur, Erode and Salem as well. For instance, several tickets have been waitlisted till May 9 on all days in both directions in the train, passengers point out.
