The Chord Line connects and via

Vriddhachalam Virudhachalam or Vriddhachalam is a Town and taluk headquarters in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The ancient name of this town is Thirumudhukundram. As per the 2011 census, the town had a population of 73,585 of which ...

in Tamil Nadu. It is the shortest route connecting and Trichy. This rail route is 40 km shorter than the main line.

History

Until 1927, and were only connected by

Main line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

that traversed through

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

and Mayiladuthurai Jn., which was . Hence, the need for shorter route arose and construction began on 22 August 1927 for a new railway line via in phases. Initially, the stretch between and

were completed and opened on 1 December 1927, the

Srirangam Srirangam, is a neighbourhood in the city of Tiruchirappalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A river island, Srirangam is bounded by the Kaveri River on one side and its distributary Kollidam on the other side. Considered as the first amon ...

- stretch on 22 August 1927, Bikshandarkoil - Srirangam stretch on 12 December 1927 and the entire stretch began its operations since 1 February 1929. This line gradually reduced the Madras - Colombo journey by around four hours.

Gauge conversions

The conversion from metre gauge to broad gauge was effected during 1992-93 and completed during September 1998.

Electrification

This stretch was proposed for electrification phase by phase by

CORE Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the centra ...

. The electrification was completed during 2010.

Famous Trains

1. Chennai Egmore-Madurai Tejas Express - Celebrity of Chord line. 2.

Vaigai Superfast Express The Vaigai Superfast Express is a Intercity express typed super fast express train running daily between Madurai and Chennai via Tiruchirappalli operated by Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Due to the demand for a day train betwe ...

- King of Chord line. 3.

Pallavan Superfast Express Pallavan Superfast Express is an Intercity express typed superfast service operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. This service connects the cities of Chennai to Karaikudi via Tiruchirappalli in the Indian state of Tami ...

- Prince of Chord line.

Operations

Passenger services

The line experiences a heaviest traffic handling about 30 passenger and 56 express trains passing through every day in addition to goods train, particularly during night. Despite the fact that multiple south Tamil Nadu bound trains pass via chord line, there are no 'A' grade stations in the chord line between Trichy and Villupuram.

Freight services

The line has a number of Industrial establishments which utilises their nearby railway stations for their logistics and transports such as Central Workshop (Golden Rock), Cement and gypsum factories at

Trichy Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

Perambalur Perambalur is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of Perambalur district and Perambalur ''taluk'' (sub-district). census, the town had a population of 49,648. There are a set of 11th century Buddha statues aroun ...

and

Ariyalur Ariyalur () is a town and district headquarters of Ariyalur district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is rich in limestone, surrounded with seven cement factories and two sugar factories. The town is located at a distance of from th ...

, and the Sugar factories at

Villupuram Viluppuram, Villupuram, or Vizhuppuram () is a Municipality and the administrative headquarters of Viluppuram district. Located south west of a Tiruvannamalai and north west of Cuddalore null The town serves as a major railway junction, ...

and

References

External links

Southern Railways - Official Website
{{Railways in Southern India * 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Railway lines opened in 1929 Transport in Tiruchirappalli