Sonia to inaugurate converted broad gauge line

Chennai, Aug 3 (UNI) Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will dedicate the newly converted Rameswaram-Manamadurai broad gauge railway line to the nation in a function at Rameswaram on August 6.

She would flag off the inaugural passenger special between Rameswaram and Chennai, Southern Railway sources said.

The sources claimed that the inauguration of this converted gauge railway line assumed significance in view of the conversion of the line on historic Pamban bridge across the Bay of Bengal between Pamban and Mandapam. Railway had taken up this task by using the indigenous technology provided by Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai and IIT Madras.

Besides Ms Gandhi, Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, his Deputy R Velu and State Transport Minister K N Nehru would attend the function.

Daily express train from Chennai to Rameswaram via Madurai would leave Chennai Egmore station at 1700 hrs and reach Rameswaram at 0515 hrs the next day. In its return direction, the train would leave Rameswaram at 2230 hrs and reach here at 1115 hrs.

The Madurai-Rameswaram passenger train would leave Madurai at 0630 hrs and reach Rameswaram at 1030 hrs. In its return, the train would leave Rameswaram at 1800 hrs and reach Madurai at 2145 hrs.

Efforts were on to introduce one more passenger train in this section, the sources added.

UNI