Chennai–Madurai AC Duronto Express

Chennai–Madurai AC Duronto Express

Overview
Service type	AC Duronto
Status	Permanently withdrawn from service
Locale	Tamil Nadu
First service	15 December 2012; 11 years ago (2012-12-15)^[1]
Last service	March 2020; 4 years ago (2020-03)^[2]
Current operator(s)	Southern Railway zone
Route
Termini	Chennai Central (MAS) Madurai Junction (MDU)
Stops	1^[a]
Distance travelled	555 km (345 mi)
Average journey time	8 hrs 30 minutes
Service frequency	Bi-Weekly
Train number(s)	22205/22206
On-board services
Class(es)	First AC, Second AC, Third AC
Observation facilities	Large Windows
Technical
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Electrification	Yes
Operating speed	71 km/h (45 mph)

Chennai Madurai Duronto Express was a Duronto Express belonging to Indian Railways which was operated fully Air-Conditioned Superfast Bi-weekly train connecting Chennai and Madurai via Salem in Southern Railway zone. This train was cancelled with effect from 10 June 2020.

This Duronto Express now converted to a Chennai Central–Madurai AC Superfast Express. It runs three days a week along with the Chennai Central–Madurai AC Superfast Express (20601 / 20602) which runs once a week.

Background

The ever-growing inflow to the State Capital from Madurai and its neighboring districts and the heavy rail traffic on the Tambaram-Villupuram-Madurai section,^[3] is the prime reason behind operating the train from Chennai Central.^[4] And hence the fact that it takes a longer route via Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Dindugal. The train makes only one commercial halt at Salem Junction across the Chennai-Salem-Madurai line.^[5]^[6]^[7] It is now running with LHB rakes (Linke Hoffman Busch) from 26 JUNE 2018 and is maintained at Chennai Central.

Coach composition

The train consists of one 1 AC First/Executive Class (1A), 2 AC Two-tier (2A), 9 AC Three-Tier (3A) and 2 EOG.

Loco

EOG

Gallery

Chennai Central - Madurai Duronto arrived Madurai Junction
Duronto halted Parallel with Punalur-Madurai fast passenger
Duronto halted at Madurai Junction
A View of AC 2-tier (2A) Coach

Notes

^ Technical Halt.

References

^ "New Duronto train services to Madurai, T'puram from December 15". The Times of India. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
^ "Southern Railway cancels 9 train services due to low occupancy". The Hindu. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
^ "Chennai-Madurai Duronto by October". IBNLive.in. 14 July 2011. Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
^ "Travel Chennai-Madurai non-stop on Duronto Express". The New Indian Express. 23 November 2012. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
^ "Chennai-Madurai Duronto Express likely from Nov". The Hindu. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
^ "Madurai-Chennai Central Duronto Express likely from June". The Hindu. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
^ "Two more non-stop Duronto trains from city". The Hindu. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2013.

Duronto Express

Operational

Defunct

Ajmer–Hazrat Nizamuddin
Howrah–Puri
Chennai–Coimbatore
Chennai–Thiruvananthapuram
Amritsar–Chandigarh
Lucknow–New Delhi
Howrah–Digha
Allahabad–New Delhi
Chennai–Madurai

Railways in Southern India

Authority

Ministry of Railways
Railway Board

Zones and divisions

South Central	Hyderabad Secunderabad
South Coast	Guntakal Guntur Vijayawada Waltair
Southern	Chennai Madurai Palakkad Salem Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchirappalli
South Western	Bangalore Hubli Mysore

Suburban and metro

Operational

Suburban	Chennai Suburban Chennai MRTS Hyderabad MMTS
Metro	Chennai Metro Kochi Metro Hyderabad Metro Namma Metro

Proposed

Workshops

Depots

Electric Loco	Arakkonam Erode Guntakal Kazipet Lallaguda Royapuram Vijayawada Visakhapatnam
Diesel Loco	Coonoor Erode Ernakulam Golden Rock Gooty Guntakal Hubli Kazipet Tondiarpet Vijayawada Visakhapatnam
Steam Loco	Coonoor
Multiple Unit	Avadi Bangalore Kollam Palakkad Tambaram Velachery Vijayawada

Lines

Main	Chennai–Bangalore Chennai–Howrah Chennai–New Delhi Chennai–Mumbai
Broad Gauge	Bangalore–Hubli Bhimavaram–Narasapur Chennai–Thanjavur Ernakulam–Kayamkulam Ernakulam–Kottayam–Kayamkulam Erode–Tiruchirappalli Gudivada–Machilipatnam Jolarpettai–Shoranur Kollam–Sengottai Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram Kothapalli–Manoharabad Kothavalasa–Kirandul Madurai–Tirunelveli Manamadurai–Rameswaram Manamadurai–Virudhunagar Mangalore–Mysore Mysore–Bangalore Mysore–Chamarajanagar Nagercoil–Tirunelveli Nilambur–Shoranur Palakkad–Pollachi Peddapalli–Nizamabad Pune–Londa Samalkot–Kakinada Secunderabad–Manmad Tenali–Repalle Thiruvananthapuram–Kanyakumari Vijayawada–Nidadavolu Viluppuram–Tiruchirappalli
Mountain	Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Sections	Duvvada–Vijayawada Gudur–Renigunta Guntakal–Nandyal Guntakal–Renigunta Guntakal–Vasco da Gama Guntur–Tenali Hassan–Bangalore Kazipet–Vijayawada Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam Motumarri–Vishnupuram Nagpur–Secunderabad Nallapadu–Nandyal Nandyal–Yerraguntla Pagidipalli–Nallapadu Secunderabad–Dhone Shoranur–Cochin Harbour Shoranur–Mangalore Solapur–Guntakal Vijayawada–Gudur Vijayawada–Guntur
Inactive	Cochin State Forest Tramway Kundala Valley Railway Nilambur–Nanjangud line Sabarimala Railway

Passenger trains

Stations

Major	Arakkonam Jn. Chengalpattu Jn. Bengaluru KSR Bengaluru Yesvantpur Jn. Chennai Avadi Chennai Central Chennai Egmore Tambaram Coimbatore Jn. Ernakulam Jn. Hyderabad Hyderabad Deccan Kacheguda Secunderabad Jn. Katpadi Jn. Kollam Jn. Kozhikode Madurai Jn. Mysuru Jn. Thiruvananthapuram Central Thrissur Tirupati Tiruvallur Vijayawada Jn. Visakhapatnam Jn.

Railway companies

Active	Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) Konkan Railway Corporation (KRCL) Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation (KRTCL) Kerala Rail Development Corporation (KRDC)
Defunct	East Coast State Railway Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railways Madras Railway Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway