The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Meter gauge trains to be terminated in Podanur soon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 22, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Meter gauge trains to be terminated in Podanur soon

By Our Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE, FEB. 21 . In a bid to take up the conversion of the 9-km long meter gauge (MG) line between Coimbatore Junction and Podanur, the Southern Railway is considering a proposal to terminate MG in Podanur any time in March.

Given the present indications, the work, likely to cost somewhere close to Rs. 13 crores at Rs. 1.5 crores per km, was expected to start very shortly, railway sources said.

Since, the staple line for shunting trains and maintenance yard were already available at Podanur, the MG services towards Pollachi, Udumalpet, Palani, Dindigul and Madurai would be operated from Podanur henceforth.

Once the MG services were terminated at Podanur, the following services for Coimbatore on the MG section Coimbatore - Madurai Passenger at 7.40 a.m., Coimbatore - Madurai Express service at 12.50 p.m., Coimbatore - Pollachi Passenger at 3.10 p.m., Coimbatore - Dindigul Passenger at 6.40 p.m. and the overnight express train to Madurai at 10.45 p.m. would be operated to and from Podanur.

The Coimbatore - Pollachi passenger would serve as a connecting train for passengers who wish to travel beyond Pollachi by taking the Palghat - Madurai passenger in Pollachi.

Spare line

For the first service at 7.40 a.m., the railways was considering a proposal to have the Coimbatore - Mangalore Fast Passenger on the broad gauge (BG) section as a connecting train for passengers wishing to travel from Coimbatore Junction, while for the other MG line services, the passengers would have to board and alight in Podanur.

Once the work was completed, the existing MG line platform could be made into a platform and the newly converted BG line could be used as a spare line for reception and despatch of trains without detention or delay.

The facility would substantially help ensure timely operation of incoming, outgoing and passing through trains, sources said.

Similarly, trains departing from Coimbatore need not chug through at a snail pace because of the Coimbatore - Irugur single line bottleneck, as they could be routed through Podanur and Irugur. The availability of one more BG line via Podanur would definitely help ease congestion.

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