The 16733/16734 Rameswaram–Okha Express is an

Express Express or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid Music * ''Express'' ...

train belonging to

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

– Madurai Division of the Southern Railway zone that runs between and in India. It operates as train number 16733 from Rameswaram to Okha and as train number 16734 in the reverse direction, serving the states of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and ...

, Maharashtra and

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

History

It is one of the very first train which is operated from Rameswaram immediately after

Gauge Conversion Gauge conversion is the changing of one railway track gauge (the distance between the running rails) to another. Sleepers If tracks are converted to a narrower gauge, the existing sleepers (ties) may be used. However, replacement is required ...

of Manamadurai–Rameswaram line from

Meter Gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

Broad Gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

. This train is operated in such a long circuitous route because during its introduction, most of the railway lines in India are under gauge conversion from narrower gauges to broad gauge, so this train is operated using existing railway routes at that time. This train was originally introduced between Madurai and Manamad. Later this train was extended in both sides i.e. From Madurai it was extended until Rameswaram and from Manamad it was extended until Okha. At initial days of operation, its maintenance is done at

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

, after constructing a railway maintenance yard at

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 40 ki ...

, the maintenance of this train has been shifted from Madurai to Rameswaram. At present, It is the only train from southern part of

such as Madurai, Rameswaram which are directly connected with the Manamad, Aurangabad areas of Maharashtra.

Coaches

The train has standard ICF rakes with a maximum speed of 110 km/h. The train consists of 22 coaches: * 2 AC II Tier * 2 AC III Tier * 11 Sleeper coaches * 4 General Unreserved * 2 Seating cum Luggage Rake * 1 Pantry car As is customary with most train services in India, coach composition may be amended at the discretion of Indian Railways depending on demand.

Service

16733/Rameswaram–Okha Express covers the distance of in 59 hours 50 mins (49 km/h) 16734/Okha–Rameswaram Express covers the distance of in 58 hours 35 mins (53 km/h).

Route

The 16733 / 34 Rameswaram–Okha Express runs from via , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , to .
''South Central Railway'', 8 July 2015 At present it is the only direct express train that runs from Rameswaram to nearby places of Mumbai such as Manmad and Surat.

Schedule

Traction

Both trains are hauled by a

Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock is an engine shed located in Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu in India. It is located north of Golden Rock railway station, falling under Tiruchirappalli railway division. It is the largest of the four loco ...

-based

WDM-3A The Indian locomotive class WDM-3A is a class of diesel–electric locomotive that was developed in 1993 by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), Varanasi for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic ( ...

between Rameswaram and . After Madurai Junction, both trains are hauled by a

Diesel Loco Shed, Erode Diesel Loco Shed, Erode is an engine shed located on Erode–Chennimalai road in Erode, Tamil Nadu, India. Being closely located to Erode Junction Railway Station, the shed falls under Salem railway division of Southern Railway zone. History ...

-based

WDP-4D The EMD GT46PAC or WDP4 is a passenger-hauling diesel-electric locomotive with AC electric transmission designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and built by both GM-EMD and under license by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) of Varanas ...

up to Okha and vice versa.

References

External links

16733 Rameswaram - Okha Express
at India Rail Info
16734 Okha - Rameswaram Express
at India Rail Info Express trains in India Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Rail transport in Andhra Pradesh Rail transport in Telangana Rail transport in Maharashtra Rail transport in Gujarat Transport in Rameswaram Transport in Okha Railway services introduced in 2006 {{India-express-train-stub