Theni back on railway map after 10 years

After over a decade, the picturesque town of Theni in the Western Ghats is now back on the map of the Indian Railways. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on May 26 inaugurate the Madurai-Theni broad gauge line following which regular train services on the scenic route will begin on May 27.

Rail traffic between Madurai and Bodinayyakannur was stopped in 2010 for converting the metre gauge line into broad gauge and the work was set to be completed in less than two years. However, it has taken over 11 years to relaunch train operations on the 75.3 km line between Madurai and Theni. The project cost Rs 500 crore.

With the new line, the travel time between Madurai and Theni will reduce to one hour as against nearly two hours by road. The new broad gauge line will not just help office goers and regular travellers from Madurai to Theni but also people proceeding to tourist destinations in Kerala like Thekkady and Munaar.

Modi will inaugurate the line on Thursday via video conferencing from Chennai. From Friday, the Southern Railway will run an unreserved train daily from Madurai to Theni. The train will leave Madurai at 8.30 am and reach Theni at 9.35 am and the return journey will start at 6.15 pm with the train reaching Madurai at 7.20 pm.

The unreserved train will stop at Vadapalanchi, Usilampatti and Andipatti stations. Madurai-Bodinayyakannur railway line was built by the British as a narrow gauge after which it was converted into metre gauge in the 1950s. The traffic was stopped in 2010 on the metre gauge line for it to be converted into a broad gauge line.

Residents of Theni are demanding that the railways run a direct train from the town to Chennai via Madurai. The 75 km railway line from Madurai to Theni is scenic and surrounded by mountains.