News Headlines
Tamil Nadu: Theni District's Long Wait For Direct Train To Chennai To End Soon; Madurai-Chennai Central Express To Be Extended To Bodinayakanur
Train (Representative Image)
Theni district is set to get its first ever direct train to Chennai on 15 June, with the extension of the existing Madurai-MGR Madras Central Express train to Bodinayakanur (Bodi).
The tri-weekly extended train service will be flagged off by Union Minister L Murugan.
It would depart from Chennai at 10.30 PM and reach Bodi the next morning at 9.35 AM. During the return journey, it would depart from Bodi at 8.30 PM and reach Chennai at 7.55 AM, the next morning.
While the extension was supposed to take place in February itself and an announcement to that effect was made by the Railways, it got delayed due to station development works in Madurai.
Rail connectivity was restored to the district only last year after the metre-gauge railway line between Bodi and Madurai was shut for gauge-conversion work.
The gauge conversion work on the 90 kilometre stretch took more than a decade. After gauge-conversion work was completed, an unreserved passenger train was started between Theni and Madurai. This train will also be extended to Bodi.
Because the Bodi to Madurai stretch was metre gauge, it was not possible to provide a direct train to the district from Chennai. Currently, passengers have to change trains at Madurai or rely on buses.
The train is also expected to help tourists reduce the duration of their road journey to Munnar, a popular hill station in neighbouring Kerala.
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