Kovai Express

Kovai Superfast Express
Overview
Service type	Express
Locale	Tamil Nadu
First service	14 April 1977; 47 years ago
Current operator(s)	Southern Railway zone
Route
Termini	Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station (MAS); Coimbatore Junction (CBE)
Stops	10
Distance travelled	502 km (312 mi)
Average journey time	7 hours 55 minutes
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	12675 / 12676
On-board services
Class(es)	AC Chair Car, Second Class Sitting, General Unreserved
Seating arrangements	Yes
Sleeping arrangements	No
Catering facilities	Available
Observation facilities	Large windows
Technical
Rolling stock	LHB coach
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed	66 km/h (41 mph) average with halts
Route map
Route map

The 12675 / 12676 Kovai Express is a daily superfast express train on Indian Railways, running between Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station and Coimbatore Junction. The train made its inaugural run on 14 April 1977 and was one of the fastest Express trains in India, with an average speed of 65 km/h including stops . It is also one of the most prestigious trains of Southern Railway.

Name

The train is named after Coimbatore, which is also known as Kovai.

Service

This train is an all day, day time superfast and has a Chair Car (Coach) seating arrangement with air-conditioned and non-air conditioned coaches and Pantry car. The 12679/12680 Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Chennai Central Railway Station - Coimbatore Junction Intercity Superfast Express is its opposite route partner.

Route and stations

Kovai Express, or popularly referred to as Kovai, connects Tamil Nadu's state capital Chennai and its second largest city Coimbatore, a major textile, educational and engineering center. This train covers 6 corporation cities out of 12 in the state: Chennai, Vellore, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur and Coimbatore. The route covers most of the major industrial hubs in the north west part of Tamil Nadu. En route, starting from Coimbatore, it covers important towns of Tirupur, an international hosiery goods exporting town, Erode, a principle agricultural and major Industrial town, Salem which is a major steel and mineral town,^[1] Morappur, a station that serves passengers from Dharmapuri and surrounding areas, major leather goods exporting centers Ambur, Vaniyambadi,^[2] Arakkonam Junction The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), INS Rajali Naval Air Station and Vellore-Katpadi which has both a medical center a university.^[3]

Rake

Kovai Express contains a total number of 22 LHB coach. Previously it has a single dedicated rake unit but now its rakes are being shared with Brindhavan Express. Its rakes are maintained at GSN yard, Bainbridge, Chennai. The current composition is as follows:

	EOG	UR	UR	C1	C2	D1	D2	D3	D4	PC	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10	D11	D12	UR	UR	UR	UR	UR	EOG

Historic information

The old number was 75/76, later changed in the 1980s to 2675/2676, as per new four-digit format numbering system later adopted by the Indian Railways. From December 2011 onwards 5-digit train number system was introduced all over India and accordingly Kovai express train number was again changed as 12675/12676. In 1978 it was pulled by a Diesel Engine with Kovai Express boldly written on it. It used to start from Chennai at 6 A.M and its next stop was Katpadi arriving at 7.43 A.M. Other stops at that time was Jolarpet, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur and Coimbatore. It used to reach Cbe at 2 p.m. and start back at 2.20 p.m. Now Shatabdi Express has taken over the Kovai express timings.

Time table

MAS 》CBE 12675

Station code	Station name	Arrival	Departure
MAS	Chennai Central	SRC	06:10
AJJ	Arakkonam Jn	07:08	07:10
WJR	Walajah Road Jn	07:38	07:40
KPD	Katpadi Jn	08:03	08:05
AB	Ambur	08:43	08:45
JTJ	Jolarpettai	09:23	09:25
MAP	Morappur	10:09	10:10
SA	Salem Jn	11:07	11:10
ED	Erode Jn	12:07	12:10
TUP	Tiruppur	12:53	12:55
CBE	Coimbatore Jn	14:05	DSTN

CBE 》MAS 12676

Station code	Station name	Arrival	Departure
CBE	Coimbatore Jn	SRC	15:15
TUP	Tiruppur	15:58	16:00
ED	Erode Jn	16:47	16:50
SA	Salem Jn	17:43	17:45
MAP	Morappur	18:33	18:35
JTJ	Jolarpettai	19:23	19:25
AB	Ambur	19:54	19:55
KPD	Katpadi Jn	20:33	20:35
WJR	Walajah Road Jn	20:54	20:55
AJJ	Arakkonam	21:23	21:25
PER	Perambur	22:13	22:15
MAS	Chennai Central	22:50	DSTN

References

^ "The changing face of steel city". The Hindu. The Hindu = 2011. 22 January 2011.
^ [1] The Hindu: Growth sets Ambur leather sector shining
^ [2] Indian Express : Vellore Medical experts

External links

Kovai Express Route

[1] "The changing face of steel city". The Hindu. The Hindu = 2011. 22 January 2011.

[2] [1] The Hindu: Growth sets Ambur leather sector shining

[3] [2] Indian Express : Vellore Medical experts

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