''Amritha Express'' is an overnight

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes few or no stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, providing faster service than local trains that stop at many or all of the stations along their ...

operated by the

Southern Railway zone Southern Railway (SR) is one of the eighteen zones of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Chennai and operates across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Puducherry. The origin of the Southern Rai ...

of the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

between in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, and Madurai Junction in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. This train is approved for extension upto

Rameswaram Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about from ...

via Manamadurai, Paramakkudi and Ramanathapuram. At first, it was extended from Palakkad to Palakkad Town, then later extended upto Pollachi, then again extended to Madurai. And now for the fourth time it’s approved for extension to Rameswaram. This train marks as the first direct connectivity train to Palani & Rameswaram from Kerala. Also from Trivandrum to Dindigul there’s no direct train service to Rameswaram. Therefore this train will be a greatest benefit for the passengers enroute.

Background

It was introduced in January 2001 by the then Railway Minister O. Rajagopal, from to . This train is named after

Mata Amritanandamayi Sri Mātā Amritānandamayī Devi (born Sudhamani Idamannel; 27 September 1953), often known as Amma ("Mother"), is an Indian Hindu spiritual leader, guru and humanitarian, who is revered as 'the hugging Hindu saint, saint' by her followers ...

, a well known spiritual leader. At first, the train used to run between Thiruvananthapuram Central to Palakkad, then extended up to

Pollachi Pollachi is a town and municipality in Coimbatore district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Pollachi taluk. It is situated near the center of the South Indian Peninsula, surrounded by Western Gha ...

later extended to . It starts from Thiruvananthapuram Central, runs via , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , then reaches Madurai Junction the next day.

History

It was first introduced as – Amritha Express, via . Later, from November 2015, it had been extended and operated as a special express between Palakkad Town and . Then, from 1 November 2017, Amritha Express was extended to with new stops at , Pollachi, , , and by withdrawing stoppage at Shoranur Junction. Starting from 16 November 2011, at , eight coaches from was linked with Amritha Express and ran as Thiruvananthapuram Central–Madurai Junction Amritha Express / Thiruvananthapuram Central–Nilambur Road Rajya Rani Express. On 5 May 2019, the link express from Nilambur Road was discontinued permanently, and both the trains ran as an independent train. Also Amritha Express was diverted to run via –– instead of Palakkad Junction–Shoranur Junction–Ottapalam–Thrissur. Therefore, Amritha Express will not touch Shoranur Junction, instead it will bypass Shoranur Junction. The link train Rajya Rani Express has got independent coaches and will run with new terminal from to Nilambur Road.

Locomotive

Starting from September 24, 2022, this train will be converted from ''Diesel locomotive'' journey to a fully complete ''Electric locomotive'' journey since the Palakkad-Dindigul line got completely electrified and CRS Inspection was successfully completed.

Timings

This train is a daily service train with the following departures and arrivals at some of these stations:-

Coach composition

*1 First class Ac * 1 AC Two Tier, * 2 AC Three Tier, * 14 Sleeper class, * 3 General Unreserved, * 2 Luggage cum Disabled coach. The Train Has Rake Sharing With Boat Mail Effect From 2025 April 14.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amritha Express Transport in Thiruvananthapuram Named passenger trains of India Express trains in India Rail transport in Kerala Railway services introduced in 2001