Pilgrims going to Tirupati from Chennai can now hope for coaches that are not as crowded as before with the Railways doubling the carrying capacity of trains bound to the pilgrimage centre that is three-hours from here by train.
Southern Railway has announced that it would double the carrying capacity by adding three additional reserved class-II chair cars and one AC chair car to Sapthagiri (train no. 16057/16058) and Tirupathi Express (16053/ 16054).
The three additional class-II coaches and an AC chair car would accommodate 600 more passengers every journey.
The coach augmentation would be in effect from September 17, 2012, till January 31, 2013. These four months are normally the peak season for pilgrims who visit the hill town pilgrim center for the Bramhotsavam.
Sapthagiri Express and Madras Express are the only two trains directly connecting Chennai to Tirupati.
Special service to clear extra rush
Special trains will be run between Vizag and Kollam via Kottayam and Coimbatore to clear the rush of passengers till October.
Train no. 08570 will start from Kollam Junction at 9.10 pm on all Fridays between September 14 to 26, while train no. 08569 will leave Vizag at 9 am on all Thursdays and reach Kollam at 4 pm on Fridays from September 20 to 25.
Train no. 16853/54 Tiruchirappalli-Chennai Egmore Express and train no. 16107 Chennai Egmore-Mangalore Express would have an extra second class chair car coach from September 15 to October 28.
This would also be done in the Chennai Egmore-Tiruchirappalli train from September 18 to October 31.
Train no. 16108 Mangalore–Chennai Egmore would also be augmented with one second class chair car coach from September 17 to October 30.