Rockfort Express

Rockfort Express
Overview
Service type Express
Status Active
Locale Tamil Nadu
First service 1972 (1972)[1]
Current operator(s) Southern Railway zone
Route
Start Tiruchirappalli Junction
Stops 14
End Chennai Egmore
Distance travelled 336 km (209 mi)
Average journey time 06:30 hours
Service frequency Daily each way
Train number(s) 177/ 178 (later 6177/ 6178 and 6877/ 6878, now 16177/ 16178)
Line used Chord line
On-board services
Class(es) 1A, 2A, 3A, SL, SLR, SLRD and GS
Disabled access
Sleeping arrangements Couchette car
Catering facilities No
Entertainment facilities No
Baggage facilities Overhead racks
Baggage carriage
Technical
Rolling stock WAP4 (RPM/ED)
One 1 AC
One 1 AC-cum AC 2-tier
Two AC 2-tier
Four AC 3-tier
Eleven II SL
Three UR/GS
One SLR
One SLRD
Track gauge 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Electrification 25 kV AC, 50 Hz
Operating speed 48 km/hr
Track owner(s) Southern Railway zone
Timetable number(s) 21/21A[2]
Route map

The Rockfort Express is a overnight Express rail connecting Trichy with Chennai Egmore via Villupuram in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the Prestigious express of Southern Railway.

Background and Relevance

The eponymous train is named after the famous 12th-century fortress Rockfort temple in the heart of Tiruchirapalli. The train originally ran between Madras Egmore and Tiruchirappalli Junction on the 'Chord Line'. Later, when the 'Main Line' was closed for operations to facilitate gauge conversion projects, a part of this train was extended to Thanjavur Junction as Rockfort Link Express (6177A/ 6178A). It was further extended to Kumbakonam during the Mahamaham festival. The extended run was truncated effective September 2013. The entire formation now runs up to Tiruchirappalli Junction.

This train originally had a signal-green livery, with a yellow stripe along the upper and lower part of windows. It later was changed to the standard VB Maroon-livery when it was run on the MG. The BG version of the train has the standard AB Blue livery.

Rockfort Express arriving to Trichy

Rakes

Rockfort Express is one of the very few trains in the Indian Railways to have coaches of six classes. There were 24 coaches including an AC First Class, AC 2-Tier, First class, AC 3-tier, Sleeper Class and General Sitting compartments. First Class coaches were removed in 2014.New LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches has been allotted for this train. The train runs with LHB coaches from 26 September 2016. The train usually runs to full capacity.[lower-alpha 1]

Loco 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
SLR GS UR S10 S9 S8 S7 S6 S5 S4 S3 S2 S1 B4 B3 B2 B1 A2 A1 HA1 H1 GS SLR

The Coaches dont have RSA with Pandian Express from August 15,2016 as the latter is run by two independent LHB coaches

Schedule

The train numbered 16178 departs from Trichy Junction at 22:40 Hours and arrives Viluppuram Junction by 01:45 Hours and reaches Chennai Egmore at 05:00 Hours the next day. The pairing train numbered 16177 starts at 22:30 Hours from Chennai Egmore and arrives Viluppuram Junction by 01:05 and reaches Trichy Junction at 05:00 hours the next day.[lower-alpha 2]

Maintenance

The coaches are maintained at SSE/C&W/MDU.

See also

Notes

  1. The coach composition is subject to change.
  2. The timings are in Indian Standard Time.

References

  1. "Old time table of SR - 1977". IR Southern Zone - Discussion. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  2. "Trains at a Glance July 2013 - June 2014". Indian Railways. Retrieved 19 December 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.