Rockfort Express

It would be good to stop the 16177 Rockfort Express at Tiruchirapalli Junction and bring it back to its original historical route

With the launch this week of a new train- The Mannai Express to Mannargudi- passing through both Kumbakonam and Thanjavur, it may finally be time to get RockFort Express to its old route – Chennai Egmore –Tiruchirapalli Junction Express.

In the early part of last decade, with the closure of the Chennai Egmore Villupuram Mayavaram- Kumbakonam Main line for the conversion to broad gauge and the subsequent early conversion of the Tiruchirapalli- Kumbakonam 90km route, the Rockfort Express was extended beyond Tiruchirapalli to Kumbakonam.

However, now with the train services having resumed on the Villupuram-Mayiladuthurai section and with at least 3 daily express night trains on this section in addition to weekly specials and the Chozhan day express, it will be good to stop Rockfort express at Tiruchirapalli thus providing several hundreds of additional berths/seats to Trichy bound travellers.

While this issue was raised in the past, no decision was taken. However, with Mannai Express and Tiruchendur Express running on the Mayavaram-Kumbakonam-Thanjavur main line, it will benefit the passengers to get the additional seats to Trichy on the Rockfort Express.