Rail route launch put off

Tambaram-Kollam Express will start services from April 9

The inauguration of the Punalur-Shencottah broad gauge rail route scheduled for April 10 stands postponed.

“Taking into account inconvenience of Cabinet Ministers, the date has been postponed. After ensuring their availability, a new date, mostly around the last week of April, will be announced,” N.K Premachandran, MP, said here on Wednesday.

He said the Tambaram-Kollam Express, which marked the commissioning of the route last week, would start services from April 9.

“It will be a special train service operating on two days a week. The train will now have an extra stoppage at Kundara between Kollam and Kottarakara. It was decided after a meeting held at Railway Bhavan with the Minister of State for Railways and the Executive Director (Coaching), followed by a discussion with Southern Railway chief operations manager S Anantharaman,” Mr.Premachandran said.

Schedule

To meet the vacation rush, Railways will be operating the special service on April 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, 30 and May 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28 and 30. During June, the service will be available on 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, 25 and 27.

The train 06027 will start from Tambaram at 5.30 p.m, reaching Kollam at 10.30 a.m. the next day. In the return direction, the service will start from Kollam at 1 p.m., reaching Tambaram at 5 a.m. the next day.

“The reservation for the Tambaram-Kollam special service began on April 4. Tickets can be booked for the Tambaram-Kollam service on all the above mentioned dates and also in the reverse direction for the next day,” he said.

The train will stop at Shencottah, Bhagavathipuram, Thenmala, Edamon, Punalur, Avaneeswaram, Kottarakara, Kundara, and Kollam.

“The rail authorities have also informed that there will be changes in train timings after the official inauguration,” he added.