The 22637 / 22638 West Coast Superfast Express is a daily train connecting the city of

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 ...

, in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, with the port city of

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

via

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 ...

. It is one of the trains connecting the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...

and

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

and the oldest train. From August 1, 2021, 22637

Chennai Central 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 ...

Mangalore Central Mangaluru Central railway station, formerly Mangalore Central railway station (Station code: MAQ) is the main railway terminus in the city of Mangalore. It is one of the major railway stations in Karnataka state and it is the biggest terminal ...

West Coast Superfast Express runs with new timings. The name traces to the location of Mangalore which is on the west coast of India. It is one of the oldest trains and also provides a day-time connectivity to Coimbatore from Chennai. The train shares its rake with the

Mangalore Mail Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

which also traverses the same route. In 2014 Ministry of Indian Railways Announced the Service Type of West Coast Express as Superfast The Schedule and Train Number also Changed from 16627/16628-> 22637/22638.

History

Introduced in 1965 as an Express train sharing rakes with

, It was later upgraded to Superfast Express train in June 2014.

Loco link and coach composition

When introduced, it ran with a WDM-2 from Erode Diesel Loco Shed for the whole journey. Later after 1990 when the route electrified till Erode, it used electric locomotive from Chennai to Erode and a diesel loco from Erode to Mangalore. After electrification till Mangalore was completed, it now uses

WAP-4 The Indian locomotive class WAP-4 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1993 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic (P) ...

/ WAP-7 in its entire journey. It has a total of 23 coaches excluding the locomotive. It has 1 HCPV or High Capacity Parcel Van, 2 Guard Vans (One at each end). 4 General Compartments (1 GS compartment illegally occupied by RMS), 11 Sleeper coaches, 4 AC Three Tier, 1 AC Two Tier. and an RMS. When it departs Mangalore Central as 22638 for the return journey to Chennai, the RMS or Rail Mail Service coach is put at the end of the train.

Station stops

Chennai to Mangalore

List of stops on the West Coast Express from Chennai to Mangalore.

Mangalore to Chennai

List of stops on the West Coast Express from Mangalore to Chennai.

References

Transport in Mangalore Transport in Chennai Express trains in India Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Rail transport in Kerala Rail transport in Karnataka Named passenger trains of India {{India-express-train-stub