The 22153/22154 Chennai Egmore - Salem Junction Express is an

express Express, The Expresss or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * ''The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid * The Expre ...

train which runs from Salem to

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

via Vridhachalam and

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 and largest railway ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. 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 Indi ...

State

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. This train is operated by Southern Railway in India and the rakes are owned by Central Railway. The train was inaugurated on 7 August 2008. The Train runs with 9 Sleeper class, 1 Second AC and 4 Third AC Coaches. It is an overnight train and runs daily in both directions. This train is assigned 22153 number in the Chennai - Salem direction and 22154 number in the Salem - Chennai direction. This train is also fondly called as Mango Express by locals and railfans because Salem is famous for Mangoes.

History

This train was operated as a link/slip typed express train with only one coach during meter gauge era. The single train coach was attached with Pearl City Express till Vriddhachchalam Junction and after that the lone slip coach is detached at Vriddhachalam Junction and continues its journey towards Salem Junction via Chinna Salem. Introduction of a separate Train from Madras to Salem demanded Hon'ble MP R. KOLANTHAIVELU on 15–03–1979.https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/56279/1/lsd_06_07_15-03-1979.pdf Page 62 Due to the demand, After the Broad Gauge Conversion, this train was reintroduced on 7 August 2008 with two dedicated rakes and this train also had a slip coaches in broad gauge era. After getting 2 dedicated rakes for daily operation, some of the coaches are detached from this train at salem junction and proceed its journey towards Mettur Dam Railway Station via Omalur Junction, Mecheri Road to boost Tourism. But later that slip train was cancelled around 2018 due to several reasons. After cancellation of that slip coaches, a connection train facility at Salem Junction is provided for this Express train till Mettur Dam by utilising Erode Mettur Dam Passenger train. Recently petitions regarding extension of this train to Mettur Dam ared being filed in

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

by Tamil Nadu Railway Passengers Front. Salem-Chennai Egmore express

Current Route & Timings

The important stops are as follows: * Salem Junction *

Attur Attur or Aathur is a municipality and headquarters of Attur taluk in the Salem district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. As of the 2011 census, the town had a population of 61,793. Attur is growing economically. Transport Attur is locate ...

* Chinna Salem * Vriddhachchalam Junction (Rake Reversal Takes Place) *

Melmaruvathur Melmaruvathur is a town located in Tamil Nadu, India. It is in the Cheyyur Taluk of Chengalpattu district. The town is known for having the shrine of goddess Adhi Parashakthi, the Om Shakti Temple. It is a very important religious destinat ...

Chengalpattu Chengalpattu, previously known as Chingleput or Chengalpet, is a town and the headquarters of Chengalpattu district of the state Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located near to the industrial and IT hub. It is the headquarters of the district a ...

Tambaram Tambaram is a city located within the Chennai Metropolitan Area in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. The city is governed by Tambaram City Municipal Corporation. Etymology Tambaram is an ancient town referred to as Taamapuram in an inscrip ...

Chennai Egmore Chennai Egmore (formerly: Madras Egmore, also known as Chennai Elumbur)(station code: MS), is an NSG–1 category Indian railway station in Chennai railway division of Southern Railway zone. Situated in the neighborhood of Egmore, it is one ...

Timings of 22153 Up /

-/ Salem Junction Express:-

23.55 PM; Salem Junction 06.15 AM. Timings of 22154 Down / Salem Junction-/

Express:- Salem Junction 21.30 PM;

03.50 AM. The train undergoes Reversal at / Vriddhachchalam Junction in both Up & Down journeys. 22153 proceeds to Mettur Dam Railway Station from Salem Junction after transhipment with a Passenger train coming from

Erode Junction Erode Junction railway station (station code: ED) is an NSG–2 category Indian railway station in Salem railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is the main railway junction serving the city of Erode, Tamil Nadu, India. Erode Junction is ...

. 22154 comes from Mettur Dam Railway Station as a Passenger train going to

at Salem Junction then transhipment happens.

Coach composition

The Upwards - 22153 train Coach composition is: * 1 AC Two-tier coach (A1) * 4 AC Three-tier coaches (B1, B2, B3, B4) * 8 Sleeper Coaches (S1 - S9) * 2 Unreserved General Sitting Coaches (GS) * 1 Pantry Car * 2 Sitting cum Luggage Rakes The Downwards - 22154 train Coach composition is in exact reverse order of The Upwards - 22153 train Coach composition The pantry car remains locked.

Rake sharing

It shares its rake with the 22157/22158 Mumbai Csmt Chennai Egmore Superfast Express.

Demands

There are also demands to divert and operate this train via

neyveli Neyveli is an industrial town in the Cuddalore district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is located inland from the Bay of Bengal, west of Pondicherry and south of Chennai. The town was developed in 1956 after the establishment of Ney ...

, vadaloor, cuddalore port junction since these areas has very less train connectivity and there are no trains operated in-between chennai and neyveli areas and there are also demands to extend this train till

bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

's under construction sir m visveswaraya terminal via

hosur Hosur is an industrial city located in the Tamil Nadu state of India. Hosur is one of the 21 municipal corporations in Tamil Nadu. It is located on the bank of the river River Ponnaiyar, southeast of Bengaluru and west of Chennai, the state ...

and

dharmapuri Dharmapuri is a city in the north western part of Tamil Nadu, India. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Dharmapuri district which is the first district created in Tamil Nadu after the independence of India by splitting it from ...

since these areas also doesn't have any train connection with its state capital

chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chennai Egomore - Salem Express Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Express trains in India Transport in Salem, Tamil Nadu Transport in Chennai