RailEnquiry

Chennai: Twenty express trains and two new air-conditioned express trains besides four passenger trains would be introduced shortly.Three new MEMUs and extension of five express trains have also been proposed in the Southern Railway zone Time Table-July 2013 released here recently. The new MEMU service would include daily Chennai-Tirupati connectivity. Train no: 66011 will leave Central at 9.30am and reach Tirupati at 1.10pm. Train no: 66012 will leave Tirupati at 9.10 pm and reach Central at 5.20pm.Also, Chennai Egmore- Madurai portion of Train No.16127/16128 (Chennai Egmore - Guruvayur Daily Express) would be extended to Tuticorin as Train No.16129/16130. Likewise, Chennai Egmore-Tiruchy (train No.12605/12606 ) 'Pallavan' Exp has been extended to Karaikudi.Mangalore Central- Tiruchchirappalli (Train No.12653/12654 Weekly express) would be extended up to Puducherry via Vriddhachalam, Villupuram as Train No.16857/16858.Rly

Cops’ presence of mind helps Passenger get back her gold bag

H. Zakeer Hussain | DC

Salem: Showing great presence of mind, the Erode Railway police sprang into action and recovered a bag containing gold jewellery worth lakhs from a moving train on Tuesday after a woman passenger complained she had left it behind while alighting.

The woman, Easwari from Thirumangalam in Madurai district had boarded the Thoothukudi- Madurai Express on a one-way ticket to Erode and was  travelling in the unreserved general compartment with gold jewels weighing 10.5 sovereigns in a bag, besides her other luggage.

When the train reached Erode junction at 12.30 am, the woman, who was still sleepy,  left the bag containing the jewellery behind while alighting and before she could realise what she had done, the train left. Easwari then immediately filed a complaint with the Erode Railway police, who in turn alerted the police at the Salem Railway junction , the train’s next destination.

“As soon as we got the message, we knew that the bag would be stolen if the train stopped at the next station and so got ready to get it back before  passengers got off  at Salem. We realised that if we missed that opportunity, it would be extremely difficult to recover the gold,” said a railway police official.

A well instructed head constable, R. Sivasakthivelan of the Salem Railway police, who was assigned the task of recovering the bag, waited for the train at the platform where it was expected to arrive and jumped into its unreserved compartment before it could come to a halt.

He quickly located the bag containing  the valuables and it was later handed over to Easwari at the Erode Railway junction. The greatly relieved woman was grateful to the constable and his team who received more than one pat on their backs for their prompt action. 

Customs officer among 10 held for gambling on train

Chennai: Ten gamblers were arrested Tuesday between Beach and Tambaram for gambling aboard trains.

Interestingly, the background of gamblers amazed even RPF personnel involved in the crackdown. It was not just casual labourers and ordinary office goers, but also a customs officer was involved in the group of gambling passengers who travel between Beach and far off Kan­ch­ee­puram, Tirumalpur and Chengalpet for work daily.

The gamblers, who travel between Beach and far off stations regularly, occupy the footboard and play cards. They hide the cards every time the train reaches a station. Though senior divisional safety commissioner received complaints of on board gambling.

A special team was formed to follow the gamblers. Late Monday, two plain clothed RPF personnel boarded a Beach-Tirumalpur EMU at 8.25 pm at Beach station and travelled till Guindy, taken videos of the gamblers on their mobile phones.

An RPF team led by Mambalam sub inspector Maharajan boarded the train at Guindy station and arrested the 10 gamblers who were let out on bail. The gamblers were slapped a fine of Rs 600 each. They also arrested a dozen beggars causing nuisance to travellers at the station.