Chord Line, Tamil Nadu

Chord Line
Overview
Other name(s)	Viluppuram - Trichy railway line
Native name	கார்டு லைன்
Status	Operating
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Tamil Nadu
Termini	Viluppuram Junction (VM) Tiruchirappalli Junction (TPJ)
Stations	29
Website	www.sr.indianrailways.gov.in
Service
Type	Regional rail Heavy rail Light rail
Services	1
Route number	21/21A [1]
Operator(s)	Southern Railway zone
Depot(s)	Golden Rock (GOC) Tondiarpet (TNP) Royapuram (RPM)
History
Opened	1 February 1929;96 years ago (1929-02-01)
Technical
Line length	178 km (111 mi)
Number of tracks	Double Line (Triple line between GOC and TPJ)
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Old gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
Loading gauge	4,725 mm × 3,660 mm (15 ft 6.0 in × 12 ft 0.1 in) (BG) [2]
Electrification	25 kV AC 50 Hz
Operating speed	110 km/h (68 mph)
Route map Legend km to Chennai Egmore to Katpadi Junction 0 Viluppuram Junction NH 332 to Puducherry to Cuddalore Port Junction 8 Kandambakkam Thenpennai River 16 Tiruvennainallur 25 Parikkal Gadilam River 36 Ulundurupet NH 45 41 Meppuliyur 49 Puvanur to Salem Junction to Cuddalore Port Junction SH 69 55 Vriddhachalam Junction Vellar River SH 16 NH 532 65 Vriddhachalam Town 70 Talanallur 74 Pennadam SH 141 Manjal River 79 Ichchangadu 83 Mathur 92 Sendurai 95 Vellur (Halt) 100 Ottakovil Madras Cements NH 136 109 Ariyalur Perambalur–Ariyalur Road 116 Sillakudi NH 227 123 Kallagam 134 Kallakudi Palanganatham 138 Pullambadi 147 Kattur Trichy-Paramsivapuram Road 152 Lalgudi 155 Mandurai 158 Valadi NH 227 162 Pichchandarkovil NH 45 164 Uttamarkovil Kollidam River 167 Srirangam Kaveri 170 Tiruchirappalli Town to Manjatidal (Golden Rock Byepass line) Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock Golden Rock Railway Workshop 176 Golden Rock to Tiruchirappalli Goods yard to Karur Junction Good shed road overpass 178 Tiruchirappalli Junction Junction overpass to Karaikkudi Junction Rail yard to Dindigul Junction

The Chord Line connects Viluppuram Junction and Tiruchirappalli Junction, via Virudhachalam Junction in Tamil Nadu. It is the shortest, busiest and most vital route connecting Chennai Egmore and Southern Tamil Nadu.

History

Until 1927, Viluppuram Junction and Tiruchirappalli Junction were only connected by Main line that traversed through Kumbakonam and Mayavaram, which was 240 kilometres (150 mi). Hence, the need for shorter route arose and construction began on 22 August 1927 for a new railway line via Virudhachalam Junction in phases. Initially, the stretch between Viluppuram Junction and Virudhachalam were completed and opened on 1 December 1927, the Srirangam - Golden Rock stretch on 22 August 1927, Bikshandarkoil - Srirangam stretch on 12 December 1927 and the entire stretch began its operations since 1 February 1929. This line gradually reduced the Madras - Colombo journey by around four hours. ^[3]

Gauge conversions

The conversion from metre gauge to broad gauge was effected during 1992-93 and completed during September 1998. ^[4]

Introduction of EMD diesel locomotives

10 years post the gauge conversion, in 2008, Southern Railway decided to introduce new advanced hi-tech state-of-the-art EMD GT46PAC aka WDP-4 diesel-electric locomotives, powered by a record-breaking 4,000-horsepower (3,000 kW) 16-cylinder EMD 710G3B diesel engine, equipped with a 3-phase AC Traction with a top speed of 180 kmph, to haul some of their top Express services, another reason being the electrification on the Viluppuram-Vriddhachalam-Trichy section was still pending as well. With Krishnarajapuram (KJM) & Hubballi (UBL) diesel loco sheds belonging to South Western Railway zone (SWR) getting more of these locomotives, the then General Manager of SR, Shri V. Anand, took the initiative to speak to SWR, to allot WDP-4 links to the Chord line express services, starting with the pristine Pandian Express, followed by Guruvayur Express, Nellai Express, Pothigai Express and since 2009-10, even Vaigai Express, to train the Piloting Crew of Chennai, Trichy and Madurai railway divisions with EMD locomotives. 4-5 Pairs of WDP-4 locomotives (8-10 locos totally) worked on the Chord Line per day, Individually, with WDP-4 Multiple Units as "twins" supplied occasionally, making it up to 9-11 locos in a day. 2-3 trains on the Electrified Bangalore-Chennai Main Line, including the Sanghamitra Superfast Express (which then ran from Bangalore to Patna via Reversal at Chennai Central), ran on WDP-4 (or WDP-4 Twins occasionally), to supply them to Chennai division. This practice happened till late 2011, until SR's own diesel loco shed at Golden Rock Ponmalai (GOC), belonging to Trichy Division, got its own passenger hauling EMD WDP-4B locomotives to haul many more further passenger and express services since then.

Electrification

This stretch was proposed for electrification phase by phase by CORE. The electrification was completed during 2010. ^[5]

Operations

Passenger services

The line experiences a heaviest traffic ^[6] handling about 30 passenger and 56 express trains passing through every day in addition to goods train, particularly during night. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Freight services

The line has a number of Industrial establishments ^[10] which utilises their nearby railway stations for their logistics and transports such as Central Workshop (Golden Rock), Cement and gypsum factories at Trichy, Perambalur and Ariyalur, ^{[11] [12] [13]} and the Sugar factories at Villupuram and Vridhachalam, ^[14]

References

1. "Trains at a Glance July 2013 - June 2014". Indian Railways . Retrieved 1 January 2014.
2. J S Mundrey (2010). Railway Track Engineering (Fourth ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. p. 7. ISBN   978-0-07-068012-8 . Retrieved 1 January 2014.
3. R. P. Saxena. "Indian Railway History Time line". Irse.bravehost.com. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
4. "Works And Contract Management". Comptroller and Auditor General of India . Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
5. "Electrification work from Villupuram to Tiruchi completed: E. Ahamed". The Hindu . 12 January 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
6. R.Rajaram (15 May 2013). "Dindigul-Villupuram project set to cross another milestone". The Hindu . Retrieved 1 January 2014.
7. R.Rajaram (10 July 2010). "Tiruchi-Chennai line to get decongested". The Hindu . Retrieved 1 January 2014.
8. "Doubling work on 25-km stretch completed in Trichy division". The Times of India . 16 May 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
9. "Kallakudi Palanganatham-Ariyalur railway line nearing completion". The Hindu . 16 August 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
10. "Southern Railway - Tiruchchirappalli Division" (PDF). Southern Railway zone . Retrieved 1 January 2014.
11. "Analysis of alternatives" (PDF). Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project. p. 33. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
12. M. V. L. Manikantan (21 December 2013). "Proposed Karaikal-Peralam line to boost freight traffic". The Hindu . Retrieved 1 January 2014.
13. T. E. Raja Simhan (1 February 2010). "Karaikal scores high on rail connectivity". The Hindu . Business Line . Retrieved 1 January 2014.
14. W. Francis; Frederick Nicholson; C. S. Middlemiss; C. A. Barber; E. Thurston; G. H. Stuart (2002). Gazetteer of South India. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. p. 127. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

External links

• Southern Railways - Official Website