Chennai: The Southern Railway has announced that 65 trains will run at increased speeds from Thursday, following track doubling and upgrades. The Tambaram-Kollam journey will be shortened by 85 minutes. According to the new timetable, the train departing Kollam at 4.00 pm (16102) will now reach Tambaram at 6.05 am the following day. Previously, the same train used to arrive at 7.30 am.

The Egmore-Mangaluru train (16159) will now depart at 11.10 pm instead of 10.45 pm, reaching Mangaluru at 7.15 PM the next day, with no change in arrival time but a reduction of 25 minutes in travel time. The train from Egmore to Guruvayur (16127) will depart 20 minutes later at 10.40 am instead of 10.20 am, reaching Guruvayur at 7.40 am the following day, saving 20 minutes.

Other reductions include:

  • Chennai-Nagercoil-Tambaram Express: 50 minutes shorter
  • Coimbatore-Rameswaram weekly Express: 55 minutes shorter
  • Cuddalore Port-Mysuru Express: 50 minutes shorter
  • Rameswaram-Tirupati Express: 25 minutes shorter

Southern Railway officials stated that track doubling over 300 km and 98% electrification completed in the last two years have made these speed enhancements possible. Replacing old tracks has enabled faster running, and most trains now operate at average speeds of 80–110 km/h.