Former Member of Parliament M. Ramadass has urged Southern Railway to extend the Kakinada-Chennai-Chengalpattu Circar Express to Puducherry to benefit travellers to and from Yanam, which is an exclave of the Union Territory.
In a memorandum to R.N.Singh, who recently assumed charge as General Manager, Southern Railway, Chennai, Mr. Ramadass pointed to the popular demand for a direct rail link between Puducherry and Kakinada, which is nearer to Yanam.
According to the former MP, when he took up this demand with the Ministry in 2008, the response he got was to manage with the Circar Express which travelled from Kakinada to Chennai and back. However, after alighting at Chennai, people had to travel to Puducherry by buses which is inconvineant. Subsequently, the train was extended from Chennai to Tambaram and now Chengalpattu.
Now, the train which leaves Kakinada at 2.37 p.m. every day reaches Chengalpattu at 7.25 a.m., and on return, it departs to Kakainada at 4 P.M and arrives the destination at 9.30 am the following day. This train’s idling time of eight hours at Chengalpattu could be productively utilised if it is extended to Puducherry in which case the train can reach Puducherry by 9.45 am. It can remain in Puducherry for four hours during which period the train can be cleaned which is quite possible by the expanded platform facilities of Puducherry Railway Station. The train from Puducherry can depart at 1.30 p.m., reach Chengalpattu at 3.30 p.m. and depart at 4 p.m. to Kakinada as usual.
Since two-way tracks are available between Chengalpattu and Villupuram there will be no traffic congestion if this train moves from Chengalpattu to Puducherry via Melmaruvathur, Tindivanam and Villupuram in the morning hours. Therefore there is no technical snag or difficulty in extending Circar Express from Chengalpattu to Puducherry and back, Mr. Ramadass said.
This extension, would link Puducherry with Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, provide another Express train facility to Puducherry people to go to Chennai, help the people and office goers in the morning from Chengalpattu to Melmaruvathur, Tindivanam, Villuppuram and Puducherry besides accelerating the movement of goods and services, industrial and tourism development of the two regions, Mr. Ramadass said.
He pointed out that people of these two regions travel on a daily basis for official and personal purposes for which there is no direct road or rail facility. Since Puducherry is industrialising fast, it needs to export its products to Yanam and other towns en route to Yanam such as Samalkot, Rajahmundry, Bhimavaram, Vijayawada, Guntur and Nellore, as well as import raw materials and labour from these places as well.
Even as Ministers and officials frequently visit Yanam for government functions, Puducherry’s emergence as a tourist centre also justifies such a linkage, Mr. Ramadass said.
