Title - Trichy-Mangalore express to be rerouted via Kovai from Sept 7

COIMBATORE: The Tiruchirapalli-Mangalore weekly super fast express (train no.12653) that was running via Podanur will be rerouted via Coimbatore from September 7, according to the railways. The train that has been renumbered as train no.16857 is named as Puducherry-Mangalore weekly superfast express but the extension to Puducherry from Trichy will be notified later. On the return journey, the train renumbered as train no.12658 will pass via Coimbatore eliminating the stop at Podanur.
Passengers have demanded that eight other trains should also be rerouted via Coimbatore junction. "Yard remodelling works at Podanur railway station is over and we are expecting the railways to start rerouting more trains via Coimbatore," said R Raveendran, member of Divisional Railway Users Consultative  Committee(DRUCC) said.
Raveendran, also a member of Coimbatore railway struggle committee said that due to sustained efforts of the committee, railways has rerouted four trains so far. The committee had also made representions to the railway ministry and senior officials to reroute more trains via Coimbatore. Trichy-Mangalore express is the fifth train to be rerouted via Coimbatore.
Among the five trains that has been rerouted via Coimbatore, only Chennai-Alapuzha express is a daily service and other services including Bilaspur-Tirunelveli, Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram, Puducherry-Mangalore (via Salem)and Mangalore-Puducherry (via Trichy) are weekly trains.
The trains that presently pass via Podanur include Yesvantpur-Kannur express, Chennai-Mangalore express, Hubli-Kochuveli express, Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram express, Ernakulam-Bangalore bi-weekly express, Ernakulam-Bangalore weekly express, Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram mail and Chennai-Mangalore mail. It is also reliably learnt that once the rakes are arranged, the railways will start operating the Coimbatore-Rameswaram weekly express that was announced in the 2013-14 railway budget.