Chennai Egmore–Karaikal Kamban Express
Overview
Service typeExpress
First service23 April 2010 (2010-04-23)
Current operator(s)Southern Railway zone
Route
TerminiChennai Egmore (MS)
Karaikal (KIK)
Stops10
Distance travelled361 km (224 mi)
Average journey time7h 45m
Service frequencyDaily [lower-alpha 1]
Train number(s)16175/16176
On-board services
Class(es)AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier, Sleeper class, General Unreserved
Seating arrangementsNo
Sleeping arrangementsYes
Catering facilitiesOn-board catering
E-catering
Observation facilitiesICF coach
Entertainment facilitiesNo
Baggage facilitiesNo
Technical
Rolling stockKIK-MS/ MS-KIK WAP-7 RPM 25Kva electric traction
Track gauge1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed42 km/h (26 mph), including halts
Route map

The Chennai Egmore–Karaikal Kamban Express is an Express train belonging to Southern Railway zone that runs between Chennai Egmore and Karaikal in India. It is currently being operated with 16175/16176 train numbers on a daily basis.[1][2][3]

History

During meter gauge services, this train ran as a regular express train from karaikudi to chennai via thiruthuraipoondi, tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Nagore, karaikal, thirunallaru, mayladuthurai, villupuram in the name of kamban express. This train got its name kamban express because one of the famous tamil poet kamban's tomb is situated at nattarasan kottai near karaikudi and kambar birth is located at thiruvezhumbur near kuthalam, as this train passes through these two important places in the history of kamban, so this train got its name as kamban express. Later during 1989, the peralam karaikal line closed for train service, so this train is attached with a slip coaches dedicated for Nagore[4] while the remaining rakes of the express train has been sent to karaikudi via tiruthuraipoondi. During those times, this train is numbered as 6175/76.[5][6][7][8] After the conversion to broad-gauge of all railway lines, except the thiruvarur karaikudi section, all the other meter gauge railway tracks are converted to broad gauge around 2010 itself. But the thiruvarur karaikudi section underwent gauge conversion during 2013 only. In this intermediate period(2010), the kamban express was allocated to run between karaikal to chennai egmore via nagore, thiruvarur, mayiladuthurai, villupuram which is its old slip coach route and a new slip coach route from nagapattinam to velankanni as velankanni express. Around 2019 gauge conversion of the thiruvarur karaikudi section is completed and opened for passenger traffic and the peralam karaikal line also underwent reconstruction and gauge conversion process and it is expected to be completed by 2025. Now railways plans to reoperate this train to its very old route via chennai egmore, villupuram, mayiladuthurai, peralam, thirunallaru, karaikal, thiruvarur, thiruthuraipoondi, karaikudi after the gauge conversion completes on the peralam karaikal section in order not to eliminate and avoid any stoppages for this train.[9]

Service

The 16175/Chennai Egmore–Karaikal Kamban Express has an average speed of 42 km/h and covers 361 km in 7h 50m. The 16176/Karaikal–Chennai Egmore Kambam Express has an average speed of 44 km/h and covers 361 km in 7h 45m.

Route and halts

The important halts of the train are:

Coach composition

The train has standard ICF rakes with a maximum speed of 110 km/h. The train consists of 23 coaches:

  • 1 AC II Tier
  • 2 AC III Tier
  • 13 Sleeper coaches
  • 5 General Unreserved
  • 2 Seating cum Luggage Rake

Traction

Both trains are hauled by a Royapuram Loco Shed-based WAP-7 electric locomotive from Chennai to Karaikal and vice versa.

Rake sharing

The train shares its rake with 16187/16188 Tea Garden Express and 56385/56386 Ernakulam–Kottayam Passenger. Till 2020, it ran with link express coaches bound Velankanni which will be attached and detached at Nagappattinam. From there, both the trains reaches their destination as single trains.

Now the link train service to Velankanni was discontinued permanently, and it runs as a single train from Chennai to Karaikal and vice versa. It also shares its rakes with 16187/88 Karaikal - Ernakulam Junction Tea Garden Express.

Direction reversal

The train reverses its direction once:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Runs seven days in a week for every direction.

References

  1. ↑ Ayyappan, V (2 December 2015). "Railways cancel 17 trains due to floods in Chennai". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  2. ↑ Chennai rain: Southern Railway cancels 12 trains leaving Egmore
  3. ↑ CANCELLATION OF TRAIN SERVICES ON 01.12.2015
  4. ↑ "IMG_0132.jpg". www.irfca.org. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  5. ↑ "Southern Railway Chennai India". www.mapsofindia.com. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "S Railway Schedule". m.rediff.com. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  7. ↑ "[IRFCA] Old Train Numbers". www.irfca.org. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "XII LOK SABHA DEBATES, Session IV, (Budget)". parliamentofindia.nic.in. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  9. ↑ Venkatasubramanian, V. (1 January 2022). "Passenger trains through Tiruvarur-Karaikudi section proposed". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
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