Chennai’s first AC EMU operation to begin from April 19

CHENNAI: The city's first air conditioned EMU service will commence its operations on Chennai Beach-Chengalpattu route from April 19. The first air conditioned EMU train will leave from Chennai Beach at 7 am on Saturday, an official release from the Southern Railway confirmed.

According to the release, the first AC EMU will have 15 stoppages, including at Chennai Fort, Chennai Park, Chennai, Egmore, Mambalam, Guindy, St Thomas Mount Thirisoolam, Tambaram, Perungalathur, Guduvanchery Potheri Halt, Singaperumal Koil and Paranur stations, and reach Chengalpattu at 8:35 am. The maiden service on the opposite direction will leave Chengalpattu at 9 am and reach Tambaram at 9:41 am and Chennai Beach at 10:30 am.

Train no 49003/49004 and train no 49005/49006, Chennai Beach- Chengalpattu-Chennai Beach air conditioned EMU services will be available in both directions on all days, except Sundays.

The afternoon service (train no 49005) will leave Chennai Beach at 3:45 pm and reach Chengalpattu at 5:25 pm, while train no 49006 will leave Chengalpattu at 5:45 pm and reach Chennai Beach at 7:15 pm. The last air conditioned EMU service of the day on the route would only be between Chennai, Beach and Tambaram in both directions in the evening.

The last air conditioned EMU service (train no 49001) will leave Chennai Beach at 7:35 pm and reach Tambaram at 8:30 pm, while train no 49002.

Though the AC service would commence at 7 am from Chennai Beach, during regular operations, the first service of the air conditioned EMU (train no 49002) will begin from Tambaram at 5:40 am and reach Chennai Beach at 6:45 am with effect from April 21, the Southern Railway release said.

Train number 49003/49004 and 49005/49006 Chennai Beach-Chengalpattu-Chennai Beach will run in main line and train number 49001/49002, Tambaram-Chennai Beach-Tambaram AC MU will run in Suburban lines. Altogether, there would be three services of the AC MU train in each direction on the route.

The modern AC MU, which is equipped with better facilities like automatic doors, passenger information systems, CCTV cameras, well- marked entry/exit points would be a significant addition to enhancing passenger comfort on the Suburban sector.

The train fare for the AC EU service would be on par with similar service available in Mumbai in accordance with the circular issued by the railway board in April 2022. Going by the railway board circular, the minimum fare would be Rs 29 for the first 10 km. As per the railway board circular, the minimum single journey fare could be Rs 29. For journeys between 11 to 15 km, the base fare would be Rs 37, and Rs 56 for journeys ranging from 16 to 25 km. The minimum monthly, fortnightly and weekly season ticket fare for journeys up to 10 km would be Rs 590, Rs 445, and Rs 295, respectively. For journeys up to 25 km, equivalent to journeys between Egmore to Tambaram, the base fare would be Rs 1,200 and Rs 900, and Rs 605, respectively.