The 12675 / 12676 Kovai Express is a daily superfast express train on

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

, running between

Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station Chennai Central (station code: MAS, short for ''Madras''), officially known as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, is the main railway terminus in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the busiest railway ...

and

Coimbatore Junction Coimbatore Junction railway station, also known as Kovai Junction railway station (station code: CBE), is the primary railway station serving Coimbatore city. History Train service in Coimbatore with construction of the Old_Coimbatore Railwa ...

. The train made its inaugural run on 14 April 1977 and was one of the fastest Express trains in India, with an average speed of 65 km/h including stops . It is also one of the most prestigious trains of Southern Railway.

Service

This train is an all day, day time superfast and has a Chair Car (Coach) seating arrangement with

air-conditioned Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

and non-air conditioned coaches and

Pantry car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that d ...

. The 12679/12680 Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Chennai Central Railway Station - Coimbatore Junction Intercity Superfast Express is its opposite route partner.

Route and Stations

Kovai Express, or popularly referred to as Kovai, connects Tamil Nadu's state capital

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and its second largest city

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

, a major textile, educational and engineering center. This train covers 6 corporation cities out of 12 in the state: Chennai, Vellore, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur and Coimbatore. The route covers most of the major industrial hubs in the north west part of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. En route, starting from Coimbatore, it covers important towns of

Tirupur Tiruppur or Tirupur ( ) is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Tiruppur is the administrative headquarters of Tiruppur district and the fifth largest city as well as an urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of Noyyal Ri ...

, an international hosiery goods exporting town,

Erode Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the E ...

, a principle agricultural and major Industrial town,

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

which is a major steel and mineral town, Morappur, a station that serves passengers from Dharmapuri and surrounding areas, major leather goods exporting centers

Ambur Ambur is a town and municipality in newly announced Tirupattur District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on the banks of the Palar River between Chennai and Bangalore. Ambur has a sizeable leather industry, and is known for its spicy biryani an ...

Vaniyambadi Vaniyambadi () is a town in the Tirupattur district of Tamil Nadu and the headquarter for the Vaniyambadi Revenue district comprising Vaniyambadi and Ambur. It is located about 200 km from Chennai and 178 kilometer from Bengaluru. The Vaniya ...

Arakkonam Junction
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), INS Rajali Naval Air Station and

Vellore Vellore (English: ), also spelt as Velur (), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu and is separa ...

Katpadi Katpadi () is a locality in Vellore, at the northern part of Vellore city in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Its railway is located on the gauge line between Chennai-Bangalore and Villupuram-Tirupati. Politics and geography Once a village, Katp ...

which has both a medical center a university.http://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article204993.ece?service=print Indian Express : Vellore Medical experts

Rake

Kovai Express contains a total number of 22 LHB coach. Previously it has a single dedicated rake unit but now its rakes are being shared with Brindhavan Express. Its rakes are maintained at GSN yard, Bainbridge, Chennai. The current composition is as follows:

Historic information

The old number was 75/76, later changed in the 1980s to 2675/2676, as per new four-digit format numbering system later adopted by the Indian Railways. From December 2011 onwards 5-digit train number system was introduced all over India and accordingly Kovai express train number was again changed as 12675/12676. In 1978 it was pulled by a Diesel Engine with Kovai Express boldly written on it. It used to start from Chennai at 6 A.M and its next stop was Katpadi arriving at 7.43 A.M. Other stops at that time was Jolarpet, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur and Coimbatore. It used to reach Cbe at 2 p.m. and start back at 2.20 p.m. Now Shatabdi Express has taken over the Kovai express timings.

Time Table

MAS 》CBE 12675 CBE 》MAS 12676

References

External links

Kovai Express Route
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovai Express Transport in Chennai Named passenger trains of India Express trains in India Transport in Coimbatore Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Railway services introduced in 1977