Stopping of Coimbatore-Chennai VB express at Katpadi!!
One of the major railway stations present in the northern part of TN is Katpadi railway station. It must be taken into account that the Vande Bharat or VB train between Coimbatore and Chennai doesn`t halt here. As a result, many sections of the population such as students, patients, tourists etc are facing many issues is known.
For more than 150 years, Katpadi railway station present in the Vellore district has been operating. From here, 120 trains go to places like Chennai, Jolarpettai and Tirupati etc. Every day, about 30,000 passengers visit Katpadi railway station.
From various districts in TN and from many other states in India, many passengers come to Katpadi railway station to go to hospitals like CMC Vellore, educational institutions like VIT etc.
At present just VB trains operating between Mysore- Chennai and Bangalore-Chennai stop at Katpadi railway station. Point is that VB trains operating between Chennai-Coimbatore stop at Tiruppur, Erode, Salem and Jolarpettai railway stations and do not stop at Katpadi railway station. Since the VB trains do not stop at Katpadi station many students from Kerala, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode etc plus patients visiting CMC Vellore and tourists, general public etc face many issues.
The students, public and social activists have requested the railways administration to take measures to stop VB trains running between Coimbatore and Chennai at Katpadi railway station.
It was brought out by Mr. Kathi Anand, chairman of SR advisory committee that Katpadi railway station is the main railway station for Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet and Chittoor districts etc. He spoke about how thousands of people from many districts, states and even from foreign places visit educational institutions, hospitals and spiritual places etc.
The situation has been taken into consideration and the Southern Railways Advisory Committee Meeting has advised measures to be taken to stop the Coimbatore-Chennai VB train at Katpadi just similar to Mysore-Chennai and Bangalore-Chennai VB trains. Through Katpadi railway station, soon 3 more VB trains would also be operated. It is learnt that a tender worth Rs 350 cr for the development of Katpadi railway station has been completed
