A complete journey from Chennai to Coimbatore by Shatabdi Express

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Train : 12243 Chennai Central - Coimbatore Shatabdi Express
Loco : Royapuram WAP7 #30562

Journey Highlights

The train departed from Chennai Central a couple of minutes behind its schedule as the loco was being attached for the Vijayawada bound Jan Shatabdi Express on Pf2. The train had a good run touching 120-123 kmph constantly upto Katpadi. However, the train never actually hit 130 kmph much to my heartbreak.

Post Katpadi, the run was sedate as there was a much delayed Kerala Express right ahead of us. Kerala was sidelined at Jolarpettai to let us ahead as we crossed the Shatabdi from Bengaluru, Vande Bharat from Coimbatore, and the Vande Bharat from Mysuru in the interim. Post Jolarpettai, the run was good upto Morappur, where we nearly caught up with the Kovai Express.

Once Shatabdi catches up with Kovai, the excitement of the run is lost, as it trails Kovai by a few blocks, catching up with Kovai at Salem, Erode, Tirupur, and finally Coimbatore. Despite this, Kovai reached Coimbatore almost 15 minutes ahead of schedule and Shatabdi followed right behind, entering 13 minutes ahead of schedule, ahead of the scheduled arrival of Kovai Express.

It might be time to swap the slots of 12007 and 12243 to let Shatabdi ahead of Kovai, while 12007 will benefit from a delayed departure, to cater to a different audience than the ones benefited by 20607 Vande Bharat to Mysuru.

The Shatabdi Express which was running from 1995 and 2000 was stopped because it had occupancy of 60 percent as cited by Railways, It was replaced with an Intercity Express departing at identical timings. Later, Indian railways introduced a Duronto Express between Chennai and Coimbatore in 2011. It was converted to Shatabdi Express on 22 Nov 2013 with commercial stoppages to increase revenues as Duronto Express should have had no commercial halt then though it could have operational/ technical halt(s) if it was needed for railways.

The 12243/44 MGR Chennai Central–Coimbatore Junction Shatabdi Express presently has 1 Executive class, 7 AC chair car and 2 end-on generator coaches. The train runs with modern LHB coaches.

The train has 5 commercial stops in between the starting station and the ending station namely, Katpadi Junction, Jolarpettai Junction, Salem Junction, Erode Junction and Tiruppur.

Shatabdi Express (lit. 'Century Express') are a series of fast passenger trains operated by Indian Railways. Shatabdi Express are day trains and mostly return to their origin station the same day. The trains were first introduced in 1988 and were named 'Shatabdi', meaning 'century', to commemorate the birth centenary of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The trains run at a maximum permissible speed of 110–150 km/h (68–93 mph) with the Rani Kamalapati–New Delhi Shatabdi Express achieving the maximum permissible speed of 150 km/h (93 mph) between Tughlakabad and Bilochpura Agra.

The name "Shatabdi" means century in Sanskrit and the first Shatabdi Express train was announced on 10 July 1988 by then Railways Minister Madhavrao Scindia to commemorate the birth centenary of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India and plied between New Delhi and Jhansi Junction.

Shatabdi Express trains offer fast connectivity between major cities with only a few intermediate stops and can run at a maximum speed of 150 km/h (93 mph). They are fully air-conditioned and passengers are provided with on-board catering.

Seats in Shatabdi Express have to be reserved in advance as there is no unreserved accommodation, unlike most of the other trains in India. Reservation is allowed until up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time and the seats are auto allocated by the reservation system. Dynamic pricing is applicable on the fares.

As Shatabdi Express are day-trains and return to the station of origin the same day, coaches have only seats and not berths. All of these trains have multiple AC Chair Car coaches and one or two coaches of Executive Class seating. Indian Railways offers Anubhuti class seating and Vistadome coaches offering large windows, transparent roofing, and rotatable seats in select trains.

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