Railway Board cancels new Antyodaya Express
Launched Amid Fanfare, Train Wasn’t Run For Once
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:12.07.2019
At a time when passengers travelling from Chennai to southern Tamil Nadu districts are demanding more trains, the Railway Board has quietly cancelled a train without running a single service.
The Tambaram-Sengottai Antyodaya Express (16189/16190 ), announced with much fanfare more than two years ago by then railway minister Suresh Prabhu, was supposed to be a fully unreserved train connecting various central districts on the main line and southern districts.
It was withdrawn by Railway Board in a letter issued on May 10. However, this letter was recently made public and circulated on several social media platforms. It has come as a shock to commuters.
Chennai-Bangalore Express (22689/22690), which was announced a few years ago, has also been cancelled.
Both these trains had been added in the public time table as well as in ‘Trains at a glance’ published by Indian Railways. The Antyodaya Express was scheduled to start at 7am from Tambaram every day and take 15 and a half hours to reach Sengottai connecting Chidambaram, Mayiladuthurai, Thanjavur, Tiruchirapalli, Virudhunagar and Tenkasi.
Senior officials told TOI that they had studied the patronage patterns on the Tambaram-Sengottai section and two daily trains were already being run. Another train was recently converted from bi-weekly to tri-weekly.
“It was just put into the time-table but never introduced,” said a senior railway official. Mahendiran, a regular passenger to southern TN from Chennai, said that this has come as a disappointment to several passengers like him.
“When the minister announced and a press release was given, people were eagerly waiting for the train. This train would have come as a boon for several passengers in 30 towns through which it was supposed to run. The other Antyodaya express to Tirunelveli is extremely popular and this one also would have been,” he said.
NO-GO: The cancellation of the train has resulted in shock and disappointment among passengers
The letter for cancellation issued on May 10, was made public only recently
Launched Amid Fanfare, Train Wasn’t Run For Once
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:12.07.2019
At a time when passengers travelling from Chennai to southern Tamil Nadu districts are demanding more trains, the Railway Board has quietly cancelled a train without running a single service.
The Tambaram-Sengottai Antyodaya Express (16189/16190 ), announced with much fanfare more than two years ago by then railway minister Suresh Prabhu, was supposed to be a fully unreserved train connecting various central districts on the main line and southern districts.
It was withdrawn by Railway Board in a letter issued on May 10. However, this letter was recently made public and circulated on several social media platforms. It has come as a shock to commuters.
Chennai-Bangalore Express (22689/22690), which was announced a few years ago, has also been cancelled.
Both these trains had been added in the public time table as well as in ‘Trains at a glance’ published by Indian Railways. The Antyodaya Express was scheduled to start at 7am from Tambaram every day and take 15 and a half hours to reach Sengottai connecting Chidambaram, Mayiladuthurai, Thanjavur, Tiruchirapalli, Virudhunagar and Tenkasi.
Senior officials told TOI that they had studied the patronage patterns on the Tambaram-Sengottai section and two daily trains were already being run. Another train was recently converted from bi-weekly to tri-weekly.
“It was just put into the time-table but never introduced,” said a senior railway official. Mahendiran, a regular passenger to southern TN from Chennai, said that this has come as a disappointment to several passengers like him.
“When the minister announced and a press release was given, people were eagerly waiting for the train. This train would have come as a boon for several passengers in 30 towns through which it was supposed to run. The other Antyodaya express to Tirunelveli is extremely popular and this one also would have been,” he said.
NO-GO: The cancellation of the train has resulted in shock and disappointment among passengers
The letter for cancellation issued on May 10, was made public only recently
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