The Mayiladuthurai–Coimbatore Jan Shatabdi Express is a

Jan Shatabdi Express The Jan Shatabdi Express () is a more affordable and economical version of the Shatabdi Express''.'' The word 'Jan' refers to common people. Being an economical version of the Shatabdi Express, it provides the passenger with Air Conditioned Cha ...

train connecting and 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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The passenger service is one among the twenty

trains in India other than Chennai Central–Vijayawada Jan Shatabdi Express that runs within Tamil Nadu.

Overview

This passenger service was introduced under

, and had its inaugural run on 20 January 2003 between and in

, flagged-off by then Union Minister of State for Railways,

A. K. Moorthy A.K. Moorthy is Indian politician who was a Deputy General Secretary of Pattali Makkal Katchi, PMK, Former Member of parliament, Lok Sabha, Former Union Minister of State for Railways in Atal Bihari led NDA government. He was born 12 July 19 ...

, as a trial service for a limited period of three months. Apart from the Chennai Central–Vijayawada Jan Shatabdi Express running within Tamil Nadu, this service is one among twenty Jan Shatabdi Express trains in India.

Service

During June 2004, 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 ...

announced that the service would run until 15 July 2004. As the service initially received poor patronage the railways were forced to operate the service in reverse direction

viz. The abbreviation ''viz.'' (or ''viz'' without a full stop) is short for the Latin , which itself is a contraction of the Latin phrase ''videre licet'', meaning "it is permitted to see". It is used as a synonym for "namely", "that is to say", "t ...

Coimbatore–Thanjavur expecting a better response. During

Railway Budget Railway budget of India was the Annual Financial Statement for Indian Railways administered by the Railway Board, which handles rail transport in India. It was presented every year by the Minister of Railways, representing the Ministry of Rail ...

2005–2006,

Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Bihar from 1990 to 1997 with a brief interruption in 1995 and as the union minister for Railways from 2004 to 2009. He is the founder and president o ...

, the then

Minister of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...

announced the extension of service up to pending

gauge conversion Track gauge conversion is the changing of one railway track gauge (the distance between the running rails) to another. In general, requirements depend on whether the conversion is from a wider gauge to a narrower gauge or vice versa, on how the ...

. The service was once again extended to , as announced during Railway Budget 2008–2009 by

, the then Minister of Railways pending gauge conversion. The service initially numbered as 20832084 was changed to 1208312084 since December 2010 onwards as a part of train management system over the entire Indian Railways network.

Rakes

Route

This Jan Shatabdi Express service initially originated from to via and with single rake halting back at Thanjavur Junction, had to reverse the point of service owing to poor patronage. Despite extension of service, the train originating in Coimbatore Junction traverses through , , Erode Junction, , Tiruchirappalli Junction, where it reverses the loco and proceeds to Thanjavur Junction, and the final destination, . The service follows the same route and pattern during the return journey too.

Developments

As a part of Go Green initiative, of the 6 chosen non-Air conditioned coach of this passenger train, one bearing No.CZ026256 was fitted with 16 solar photovoltaic panels capable of producing each and aggregating up to . Built at a cost of , the solar panels are designed to be capable of withstanding wind velocities, vibrations and shocks while the train is running, and enough to power all the fans and lights in the coach in addition to saving of

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

per coach for every year. Thus becoming the first train in

and

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

as well to be fully operated with solar powered coaches. Being primarily maintained at Carriage and Works Depot in under

Salem railway division Salem railway division is one of the six railway divisions under the jurisdiction of Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is at Salem, Tamil Nadu. History Salem Railway Division is the newest division of the Souther ...

, the train is one among the others to have retro fitment of Biotoilets at a cost of for each coach.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayiladuthurai-Coimbatore Jan Shatabdi Express Jan Shatabdi Express trains Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Railway services introduced in 2003 Transport in Coimbatore