Tea Garden Express (Officially known as KaraikalErnakulam Express) is a overnight

regional rail Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster serv ...

connecting

Karaikal Karaikal ( /kʌdɛkʌl/, french: Karikal /kaʁikal/) is a town of the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry. Karaikal was sold to the French by the Rajah of Thanjavur and became a French Colony in 1739. The French held control, with occasi ...

Union Territory of Puducherry Puducherry (), also known as Pondicherry () or Pondichéry, is a union territory of India, consisting of four small geographically unconnected districts. It was formed out of four territories of former French India, namely Pondichéry (Pondi ...

with

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

via

Thanjavur Junction Thanjavur Junction (station code: TJ) is a junction railway station in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and serves Thanjavur, earlier known as Tanjore. History Thanjavur is located on the "main line" of the railway system in ...

Tiruchirappalli Junction Tiruchchirappalli Junction railway station, also known as Trichy Junction railway station (station code: TPJ) is a junction station in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. It serves as the headquarters for Tiruchirappalli railway division of the South ...

,Karur Junction,

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 ...

Palakkad Junction Palakkad Junction (formerly known as Olavakkode Junction, station code: PGT) is one of the largest railway station in Kerala state, India situated in the city of Palakkad and the second largest railway station in the district. Palakkad Junctio ...

History

The train introduced during the 1940s, as Ooty–Cochin express to transport tea and related products from the Nilgiris to

Cochin Port Cochin Port or Kochi Port is a major port on the Arabian Sea – Laccadive Sea – Indian Ocean sea-route in the city of Kochi and is one of the largest ports in India. It is also the first transshipment port in India. The port lies on t ...

and further exported to Europe and world over, hence came the name of the train. It ran in narrow gauge between and and broad gauge between and . Post Indian independence, the Ooty–Mettupalayam trip was cut–off and the train ran as No.565/566 between and , since the 1970s. Then, the – portion was cut–off and was re-routed to from Cochin (), numbered as 68656866. In the 2009–2010 Railway Budget, it was announced that the service will be extended to Nagore, and the extension was effected on 30 March 2010. The number of train was changed from the 68656866 to 1686516866, since December 2010 onwards as a part of train management system over the entire Indian Railways network. The train services were further extended to Karaikal from 17 December 2011 onwards and re–numbered from 1686516866 to 1618716188, since 1 September 2013.

Importance

This train provides connectivity for the people of Kerala and western districts to educational institutions and places of worship in delta districts, viz.,

Navagraha temples Navagraha (Pron: nævəˈgrɑ:ə) pilgrimages are pilgrimages devoted to Navagraha—the nine (nava) major celestial bodies (Grahas) of Hindu astronomy. These temples are made of stone. These celestial bodies are named Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon) ...

Tirunallar Saniswaran Temple Tirunallar Saniswaran Temple or Dharbaranyeswarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, located in a village ,Thirunallar of karaikal district of Union territory of Puducherry (24 km from Nagapattinam town of Tamilnadu. The tem ...

and

Thyagaraja Temple, Tiruvarur Thyagaraja Temple is a Shiva temple, located in the town of Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu, India. Shiva is worshiped as Puttridankondar, and is represented by the ''lingam''. Daily poojas are offered to his idol referred to as ''Maragatha lingam''. T ...

others,

Nagore Dargah Nagore Dargah (also called Nagoor Dargah or Syed Shahul Hameed Dargah or Nagore Andavar dargah) is a dargah built over the tomb of the Sufi saint Shahul Hameed (1490–1579 CE). It is located in Nagore, a coastal town in the South Indian s ...

and

Velankanni Matha Our Lady of Good Health ( ta, ஆரோக்கிய அன்னை ''Ārōkkiya annai''), also known as Our Lady of Vailankanni, is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by devotees. She is said to have appeared twice in the town of Velan ...

shrine.

Rakes

This train has 18 bogies composing all six classes: one First AC (HA1), one AC 2–Tier (2A), one First Class (FC) (non–A/C), one AC 3–Tier (3A), seven II Sleeper coaches (SL), five Unreserved (general) coaches (URGS) and two Luggage rakes (SLR).

Schedule

The train numbered 16187 departs Karaikal railway station as Ernakulam Express at 16:10 hours, arrives

at 20:00 hours, reverses loco and departs at 20:10 hours and finally arrives

Ernakulam Junction Ernakulam Junction railway station (also known as Ernakulam South, code: ERS) is the biggest railway station in the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. Controlling 376 train routes at a time, it is the busiest railway junction station in South Indi ...

at 06:25 hours, the next day. On the return direction, the train numbered 16188 departs

as Karaikal Express at 22:05 hours, arrives

at 07:40 hours, the next day, reverses loco and departs at 07:50 hours and finally arrives Karaikal railway station at 11:50 hours. Some of the prominent stoppages for the train are

Nagore Nagore is a town in the Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located approximately 12 km North of Karaikal and 5 km South of Nagapattinam. Nearby towns are Karaikal, Tiruvarur, and Velankanni. It has a population of appr ...

Nagapattinam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

Thiruvarur Thiruvarur () also spelt as Tiruvarur is a town and municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Thiruvarur district and Thiruvarur taluk. The temple chariot of the Thyagaraja temple, weighing and mea ...

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

Karur Karur () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Karur is the administrative headquarters of Karur district. It is located on the banks of River Amaravathi, Kaveri and Noyyal. Karur is well known for the export of Home Textile products to ...

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 ...

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

Shoranur Shornur is a town and a municipality located in the Palakkad district, in the Indian state of Kerala, located on the banks of the Bharathapuzha River. The town covers an area of 32.28 km2. Geography Shornur is located at . It has an ave ...

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

and

Aluva Aluva (; also known by its former name Alwaye) is a town in the Ernakulam District in Kerala, India. It is a part of the Kochi metropolitan area and is situated around from the city center on the banks of Periyar River. A major transpor ...

Notes

References

External links

Southern Railway - Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tea Garden Express Transport in Karaikal Transport in Kochi Named passenger trains of India Tea culture Indian tea Rail transport in Kerala Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Railway services introduced in 1944