Minister of State for Railways E. Ahamed flagged off the inaugural special of the Tirunelveli–Hapa bi-weekly Superfast Express, announced in the 2009–2010 Railway budget, at a function held at Tirunelveli Junction on Tuesday.
With this, all 12 new trains announced for Southern Railway in the last budget have been inaugurated within the same fiscal. The Tirunelveli–Hapa bi-weekly Superfast Express, which will be initially operated as a weekly express train, will be converted into bi-weekly in the near future based on patronage.
Flagging off the new train, Mr. Ahamed said all promises given by Minister of Railways Mamata Banerjee regarding the introduction of new trains during the previous fiscal while presenting the Railway budget for 2009–2010 had been fulfilled with all trains being inaugurated within a year.
Minister for Information Technology Poongothai Aladi Aruna appealed to the Union Minister to expedite doubling of track up to Tirunelveli. Tirunelveli MP S.S. Ramasubbu and General Manager, Southern Railway, Deepak Krishan, spoke.
