Railways to run Nellore-Chennai morning express service

CHENNAI: In a boon to residents of north Chennai and those from the border districts of Andhra Pradesh, who come to Chennai daily for work, Railways will be launching a Nellore-Chennai-Nellore Express mainline electric multiple unit (MEMU) service which will start around 5am and reach the city by 9am.
This train, which is likely to be inaugurated by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu this weekend, will have limited stops including Gudur, Sullurpeta, Nayadupeta, Gummidipoondi and Ponneri.
The train will also have a toilet, a facility that conventional MEMU rakes have lacked so far.
A senior official from Southern Railway said two services are operated to Nellore from Chennai at present. One leaves Chennai in the morning and returns at noon, while another leaves Chennai in the afternoon and returns late in the evening.
“Passengers in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh districts and Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur district want a service that reaches Chennai in the morning. This is to benefit those who are employed in Chennai, but live in the peripheries due to lower rents,” said the official.
Sources said Railways, in a first, was experimenting with running an Express MEMU, for which fares will be higher than the regular one.
This MEMU plan also fits into Indian Railways’s scheme to run super-fast MEMU services on the golden quadrilateral to decongest passenger trains moving on this stretch. This would help free up line capacity for running freight services.