Title - Board examining plea for introducing train to Rameswaram

Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal in a letter to Coimbatore MP P.R. Natarajan has stated that the request for operating a train from Coimbatore to Rameswaram via Erode and Tiruchirapalli was being examined.Southern Railway had earlier operated special trains from Coimbatore to Rameswaram via Erode, Karur and Tiruchirapalli connecting seven districts.It provided connectivity for district headquarters such as Tirupur, Erode, Karur, Tiruchirapalli, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram besides to places such as Chettinadu, Thirupullani, Erwadi and the temple town of Rameswaram.The first special train was discontinued after three months on October 8, 2011 despite public protest and representation. The same was re-introduced in 2012 and despite patronage it was once again discontinued on June 24 despite protests again. The train was only restoration of a lost benefit, after the Southern Railway discontinued the train services on the meter gauge section from Coimbatore to Southern districts via Pollachi, Udumalpet, Palani, Dindigul, Madurai, when the section was taken up for gauge conversion.Normally, Southern Railway used to introduce special trains by increasing their frequency and slowly turn them into permanent trains. But, the practice was not adhered to in terms of the Coimbatore – Rameswaram Express.

The MP and the Coimbatore Railway Struggle Committee had already presented representations to the Railway Minister, General Manager of Southern Railway and Divisional Railway Manager of Salem Division.

Patronage

Considering the importance of the train, the patronage it received and the fact that it was only a restoration of a train service that already existed, Mr. Natarajan exhorted the Railway Board to re-introduce the train as a permanent service with seven days a week frequency.