Southern Railway is giving major thrust to replace conventional passenger trains with that of diesel electric multiple units (DEMU) in a big way. Stating that the DEMUs had better operational features than that of conventional trains, Chief Operations Manager (COM) S. Anantharaman said that more DEMUs would be operated in the sections where diesel traction was in use.
The COM, who was here to give away awards to railway staff of operating department here on Thursday, said four passenger trains in Tiruchi Division had been replaced with DEMUs.
When asked about long-pending demand for operating additional express trains on Virudhunagar-Shencottah route connecting Chennai, Mr. Anantharaman said that soon the Pothigai Express — running between Shencottah and Chennai Egmore — would be augmented to run with 24 coaches. At present, the train had 21 or 22 coaches.
“Additional coaches on a daily basis would amount to running 120 special trains in a year,” he said. He said that the freight earnings of railway would increase when the new line between Milavittan and Melamarudur was completed.
Divisional Railway Manager Sunil Kumar Garg said that coal loading in the division had gone up by 67 per cent over and above the target. The increase was 252 per cent when compared to last year. Additional Divisional Railway Manager R.V.B. Babu, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager S.T. Ramalingam and Station Manager (Madurai) D.L. Ganesh were present.
