Southern Railway will introduce two new trains, the Manamadurai-Chennai Egmore Silambu Express and the Velankanni Express between Chennai Egmore and Velankanni on Saturday.
The bi-weekly train was announced in the Railway budget 2013-14.
Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will flag off the Silambu Express at Manamadurai railway station at 8.15 p.m. in the presence of Central and State Ministers, MLAs and other dignitaries.
The regular service of the Silambu Express service will commence from June 26 from Chennai Egmore and from June 27 from Manamadurai.
Train No.16181 Chennai Egmore – Manamadurai (Bi-weekly) Express will leave Chennai Egmore at 8.20 p.m. on Wednesdays/Saturdays and reach Manamadurai at 7.45 a.m. the following day.
Train No.16182 Manamadurai – Chennai Egmore (Bi-weekly) Express will leave Manamadurai at 8.15 p.m. on Thursdays/Sundays and reach Chennai Egmore at 6.05 a.m. the following day.
The trains will stop at Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Melmaruvathur, Villupuram, Vridhachalam, Tiruchi, Pudukottai, Chettinad, Karaikkudi, Devekottai Road and Sivaganga. The train to Egmore will also have a stoppage at Mambalam.
Advance reservation for the inaugural special and regular trains will commence from Thursday.
The same day, Southern Railway will introduce the Velankanni Express between Chennai Egmore and Velankanni.
Train Nos. 16185/16186 Chennai Egmore – Velankanni – Chennai Egmore Express will run with Train No. 16175/16176 Chennai Egmore – Karaikal – Chennai Egmore Express between Chennai Egmore – Nagapattinam – Chennai Egmore in both the directions with the existing timings. The trains will stop at Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Peralam, Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi, Chidambaram, Cuddalore Port Jn., Tiruppadiripuliyur, Villupuram, Tindivanam, Melmaruvathur, Chengalpattu and Tambaram.