Rockfort Express to run till Kumbakonam for few days more

August 27, 2013 02:35 pm | Updated June 02, 2016 07:08 am IST - TIRUCHI

Southern Railway has extended advance reservation for the Kumbakonam – Chennai Rockfort Express by a few more days. Earlier, it was announced that the Rockfort Express would be short-terminated in Tiruchi from August 29. However, railways has been forced to change its decision following strong protests from commuters in Kumbakonam-Thanjavur who wanted the Thanjavur-Chennai night train to be introduced before the Rockfort Express is short-terminated at Tiruchi. According to an official release here on Monday, reservation for the Chennai Egmore – Kumbakonam Rockfort Express (16177) has been extended by two days up to August 30 and Kumbakonam–Chennai Egmore Rockfort Express (16178) up to August 31.

Following persistent demand from the commuters, traders, consumers, and voluntary organisations of Tiruchi district, the Railways decided to terminate the Rockfort Express at Tiruchi and stopped reservation for the train for stations beyond Tiruchi on the Tiruchi–Kumbakonam section from August 29.

This put the commuters of Thanjavur district in a quandary as the Railways had not announced the date of introduction of the Thanjavur–Chennai Express announced in this year’s Railway Budget.

The Thanjavur District Rail Users’ Association, trade bodies, and consumer organisations of Thanjavur and Kumbakonam criticised the action of stopping the advance reservation for Rockfort Express in both directions, without any announcement on the new train. An all-party meeting threatened to launch an agitation, if the new train was not introduced immediately.

Rakesh Misra, General Manager, Southern Railway, who visited Thanjavur recently, assured the people of the district that the new train would be introduced simultaneously with the termination of Rockfort Express in Tiruchi. Top sources said the notification on the introduction of the Thanjavur–Chennai Express is expected from the Southern Railway shortly.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.