CHENNAI: Southern Railway on Saturday said running time of superfast trains like Pandiyan, Nellai and Kanniyakumari Express increased by 10 to 15 minutes while going from Madurai to Chennai. This was done to accommodate faster operation of a few other trains. However, there has been no change in the travel time of Pandiyan and Kanniyakumari Express when going from Chennai to Madurai.
The railway said Vagai Express has been delayed by 15 minutes in both directions to accommodate Tirunelveli - Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat Express which gets priority while on its route.Nellai and Podhigai Express trains have been speeded up by 10 and 15 minutes respectively when they are travelling from Chennai to Southern Tamil Nadu. The railways also said there was no change in the overall travel time of Pearl City Express in both directions. The zonal railway also added that speed of 34 trains has been increased and stoppages restored/provided at various stations for 199 trains, effective from October 1.
Following the TNIE report, Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said on platform ‘X,’ “The centre has to understand that it is only the Vande Bharat fares that need to be reduced and not the speed of trains used by the common man.”