The Coromandel Express is a superfast express train of

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 ...

. The train runs down the east coast of India between Shalimar railway station,

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, and M. G. R Chennai Central railway station,

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 ...

. The train service is run by

South Eastern Railway zone The South Eastern Railway (abbreviated SER) is one of the 19 Indian Railways, railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Garden Reach, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It comprises Adra railway division, Chakradharpur railway division, Kharagpu ...

. The route travels across the eastern coast of India along the Bay of Bengal, called the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...

, so giving the service its name.

History

The train was first run on 6 March 1977 as a bi-weekly train between (then) Madras and Howrah. The Coromandel Express was designed to be the equivalent of the

Rajdhani Express The Rajdhani Express () is a series of passenger train services in India operated by Indian Railways connecting the national capital New Delhi with the capitals or the largest cities of various states. ''Rajdhani'', derived from the Sanskrit m ...

es running through the Coromandel Coast. At the time the train had a dining car. Whilst initially the train operated from

Howrah Station Howrah railway station (also known as Howrah Junction) is a railway station located in the city of Howrah, of Kolkata Metropolitan Area, West Bengal, India. It is the largest and busiest railway complex in India, as well as one of the busie ...

to MGR Chennai Central, during COVID 19 the route was changed to Shalimar - MGR Chennai Central.

Route

The route uses the

Howrah–Chennai main line The Howrah–Chennai main line is a railway line connecting Chennai and Kolkata cutting across Eastern Coastal Plains of India. It covers a distance of across, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Sections The long trunk line ...

along the East Coast of India. The route includes a non-stop run between

Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...

and

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, and it runs up to

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

with two stops at

Eluru Eluru ( ) is a city and the district headquarters of Eluru district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the List of municipal corporations in India#Andhra Pradesh, 14 municipal corporations ...

and

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry ( ), officially Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and district headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the fifth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the district of Rajahmu ...

. The other stops are

Brahmapur Brahmapur may refer to the following places: * Brahmaloka, heavenly abode of the Hindu god Brahma * Brahmpur, Bihar, village in Bihar, India * Brahampur, Nepal, municipality ward in Dakneshwori, Nepal * Brahmapur, Odisha, city in Odisha, India * ...

, Khurda Road,

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

, Bhadrak,

Balasore Balasore, also known as Baleswar, is a city in the state of Odisha, about from the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the administrative headquarters of Balasore district and the largest city as well as heal ...

and

Kharagpur Kharagpur () is a semi- planned urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in the Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Kharagpur subdivision and the largest city of the district. It is located 1 ...

Rake

Source: * 1 First AC * 3 AC Two Tier * 8 AC Three Tier * 2 AC Three Tier Economy * 3 Sleeper class * 1 Pantry car * 2 General Unreserved * 1 End on Generation car (EOG) * 1 Sitting luggage cum brake van (SLR) * 1 High Capacity Parcel Van

Gallery

Image:Coromandel Express with WAP-4 Loco at Nalpur.jpg, Coromandel Express at Nalpur File:Coromandal Exp. (25308904350).jpg, Coromandel Express at Andhra Pradesh

Accidents and incidents

* On 15 August 1984, the derailment of 41 Up Coromandel Express at Chhatrapur near

Berhampur Berhampur (; also known as Brahmapur) is a city on the eastern coastline of Odisha, India. Known as the "Silk City" it is the headquarter of Ganjam district, Ganjam district and home to Odisha's one of the major and the oldest railway station ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

left 16 dead. * On 15 August 1997, the 42 Down Coromandel Express collided with the Coromandel Express between Visakhapatnam and Brahmapur in Odisha killing 75. * On 15 August 1999, the Coromandel Express derailed at Dusi, just crossing the Nagavalli River killing 50 passengers and injuring 500. * On 15 March 2002, about seven coaches of the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed around 14:40 at Padugupadu road over-bridge in Kovuru Mandal in

Nellore district Nellore district, officially known as Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district in Coastal Andhra Region, is one of the 26 districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. According to the 2011 Census, the district's population was 2,963,557 of which ...

, leaving as many as 100 passengers injured. The poor condition of the main rail track in the Nellore district between Vijayawada and Chennai was suspected of being the cause of the accident. * On 13 November 2009, the train derailed near Jajpur Keonjhar Road, about 100 km away from Bhubaneswar in Orissa killing at least 15 people and leaving several injured, some critically. The reason for the derailment is not known. A high-level inquiry was ordered by the Railways following the incident. * On 14 January 2012, a fire broke out in a general compartment of the Chennai-Howrah Coromandel Express near Lingaraj railway station. However, the flames were extinguished before they could spread. The fire was spotted in the coach, second from the engine, when the superfast express train was proceeding towards , a spokesman for East Coast Railway (ECoR) said. No injury was caused to anyone, as the fire brigade was called in immediately and the fire was controlled within 20 minutes. All those on board the superfast train are safe. Prompt steps prevented the fire from spreading. The affected compartment was detached at Bhubaneswar railway station as a precautionary measure, and the train proceeded to its destination, the spokesman said. Preliminary information indicated that the fire might have erupted due to the carelessness of some travelers and an inquiry has been ordered into the incident, he added. * On 30 December 2012, six elephants, including two calves, were killed after being hit by Coromandel Express in Odisha's

Ganjam district Ganjam is a district in the Indian state of Odisha. Ganjam's total area is 8,206 km² (3,168 mi²). The district headquarters is Chhatrapur. Ganjam is divided into three sub-divisions: Chhatrapur, Berhampur, and Bhanjanagar. As of ...

. A bedroll attendant on the train also died in the crash, but the circumstances of his death were unclear. * On 18 April 2015, a train caught fire at . Two of the bogies were damaged, said the report. No casualties were reported during the incident. * On 2 June 2023, A Coromandel Express train was involved in an accident in Odisha. The accident is considered one of the deadliest rail accidents in Indian Railways' history with a death count of 296 and over 1,200 injuries.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coromandel Express Transport in Chennai Rail transport in Howrah Named passenger trains of India Express trains in India Rail transport in Odisha Rail transport in Andhra Pradesh Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Railway services introduced in 1977