After 12 years, Tamil Nadu’s Theni district has been included on the Indian Railways map as Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered to resume services between Madhurai and Theni after it was closed for gauge conversion. On Friday, Madurai – Theni train service started with a grand celebration. “First passengers welcome and cheer as they take their maiden journey on board Madurai – Theni regular train service this morning,” Southern Railway wrote on Twitter.
PM Modi on Thursday formally commissioned a 75-km gauge line connecting the two districts in Tamil Nadu and flagged off the inaugural train.
On Friday, special Train 06701 left Madurai at 8:30 AM and reached Theni at 9:35 AM. It will stop at Vadapalanchi, Usilampatti and Andipatti station. Whereas, Train no 06702 will leave from Theni at 6:15 PM and will reach Madhurai Junction at 7:35 PM. The train will stop at intermediate states for a minute. This new service will cut down the journey time by half when compared to bus travel.
However, rail passengers have urged authorities to ply exclusive trains from the district instead of extending trains from Madhurai. Besides, some passengers have demanded to increase the frequency of the train between the two stations.
The Madurai-Theni Railway Gauge Conversion Project is built at a cost of over ₹500 crore. The trains on this route will be augmented with ten general second class coaches and two general second class cum Train Managers and a Luggage van.
Separately, PM Modi also dedicated a 30 km long third railway line between Tambaram and Chengalpattu built at a cost of about ₹590 crore, to facilitate the operation of more suburban services.
In addition to this, the prime minister also laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of five railway stations in Tamil Nadu–namely Chennai Egmore, Rameswaram, Madurai, Katpadi, and Kanniyakumari. This project would be completed at a cost of over ₹1,800 crore.
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