The train service is run by South Eastern Railway zone.^[1] The route travels across the eastern coast of India along the Bay of Bengal, called the Coromandel Coast, so giving the service its name.

Route

The route uses the Howrah–Chennai main line along the East Coast of India. The route includes a non-stop run between Vijayawada and Chennai, and it runs up to Visakhapatnam with two stops at Eluru and Rajahmundry. The other stops are Brahmapur, Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Balasore and Kharagpur.^{[citation needed]}

History

The train was first run on 6 March 1977 as a bi-weekly train between (then) Madras and Howrah. The Coromandel Express was designed to be the equivalent of the Rajdhani Expresses running through the Coromandel Coast. At the time the train had a dining car and library. Over time a cinema was introduced. Whilst initially going to Howrah Station, the West Bengal terminus was eventually moved to Shalimar.^[1]

Gallery

Coromandel Express at Nalpur
Coromandel Express at Andhra Pradesh

Accidents and incidents

On 15 August 1997 – 42 Down Coromandel Express collided face to face with 41 Up Coromandel Express between Visakhapatnam and Brahmapur in Odisha killing 75.^{[citation needed]}
On 15 August 1999 – Coromandel Express derailed at Dusi, just crossing Nagavalli River killing 50 passengers and injuring 500.^{[citation needed]}
On 15 March 2002, about seven coaches of the Howrah–Chennai Coromandel Express derailed around 14:40 at Padugupadu road over-bridge in Kovuru Mandal in Nellore district, leaving as many as 100 passengers injured. The poor condition of the main rail track in the Nellore district between Vijayawada and Chennai was suspected of being the cause of the accident.^{[citation needed]}
On 13 February 2009, the train derailed near Jajpur Keonjhar Road about 100 km away from Bhubaneswar in Orissa killing at least 15 people and leaving several injured, some critically. The reason for the derailment is not known. A high-level inquiry was ordered by the Railways following the incident. Hence after the accident the train has a stoppage in Jajpur Keonjhar Road.^{[citation needed]}
On 14 January 2012, a fire broke out in a general compartment of the Chennai–Howrah Coromandel Express near Lingaraj railway station. However, the flames were extinguished before they could spread. The fire was spotted in the coach, second from the engine, when the superfast express train was proceeding towards Bhubaneswar, a spokesman of East Coast Railway (ECoR) said. No injury was caused to anyone as the fire brigade was called in immediately and the fire was controlled within 20 minutes. All those on board the superfast train are safe. Prompt steps prevented the fire from spreading. The affected compartment was detached at Bhubaneswar railway station as a precautionary measure and the train proceeded to its destination, the spokesman said. Preliminary information indicated that the fire might have erupted due to the carelessness of some travelers and an inquiry has been ordered into the incident, he added.^{[citation needed]}
On 30 December 2012 Six elephants including two calves were killed after being hit by Coromandel Express in Odisha's Ganjam district. A bedroll attendant on the train also died in the accident, but the circumstances of his death were unclear.^[3]
On 18 April 2015, the train caught fire at Nidadavolu Junction. Two of the bogies were damaged, said the report. No casualties were reported during the incident.^{[citation needed]}
On 2 June 2023, Coromandel Express train was involved in an accident in Odisha.^[4] The accident is considered one of the worst rail accidents in Indian Railways' history.

References

External links

Railways in Southern India

Authority

Zones and divisions

South Central	Hyderabad Secunderabad
South Coast	Guntakal Guntur Vijayawada Waltair
Southern	Chennai Madurai Palakkad Salem Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchirappalli
South Western	Bangalore Hubli Mysore

Suburban and metro

Operational

Suburban	Chennai Suburban Chennai MRTS Hyderabad MMTS
Metro	Chennai Metro Kochi Metro Hyderabad Metro Namma Metro

Proposed

Workshops

Depots

Electric Loco	Arakkonam Erode Guntakal Kazipet Lallaguda Royapuram Vijayawada Visakhapatnam
Diesel Loco	Coonoor Erode Ernakulam Golden Rock Gooty Guntakal Hubli Kazipet Tondiarpet Vijayawada Visakhapatnam
Steam Loco	Coonoor
Multiple Unit	Avadi Bangalore Kollam Palakkad Tambaram Velachery Vijayawada

Lines

Main	Chennai–Bangalore Chennai–Howrah Chennai–New Delhi Chennai–Mumbai
Broad Gauge	Bangalore–Hubli Bhimavaram–Narasapur Chennai–Thanjavur Ernakulam–Kayamkulam Ernakulam–Kottayam–Kayamkulam Erode–Tiruchirappalli Gudivada–Machilipatnam Jolarpettai–Shoranur Kollam–Sengottai Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram Kothapalli–Manoharabad Kothavalasa–Kirandul Madurai–Tirunelveli Manamadurai–Rameswaram Manamadurai–Virudhunagar Mangalore–Mysore Mysore–Bangalore Mysore–Chamarajanagar Nagercoil–Tirunelveli Nilambur–Shoranur Palakkad–Pollachi Peddapalli–Nizamabad Pune–Londa Samalkot–Kakinada Secunderabad–Manmad Tenali–Repalle Thiruvananthapuram–Kanyakumari Vijayawada–Nidadavolu Viluppuram–Tiruchirappalli
Mountain	Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Sections	Duvvada–Vijayawada Gudur–Renigunta Guntakal–Nandyal Guntakal–Renigunta Guntakal–Vasco da Gama Guntur–Tenali Hassan–Bangalore Kazipet–Vijayawada Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam Motumarri–Vishnupuram Nagpur–Secunderabad Nallapadu–Nandyal Nandyal–Yerraguntla Pagidipalli–Nallapadu Secunderabad–Dhone Shoranur–Cochin Harbour Shoranur–Mangalore Solapur–Guntakal Vijayawada–Gudur Vijayawada–Guntur
Inactive	Cochin State Forest Tramway Kundala Valley Railway Nilambur–Nanjangud line Sabarimala Railway

Passenger trains

Stations

Major	Arakkonam Jn. Chengalpattu Jn. Bengaluru KSR Bengaluru Yesvantpur Jn. Chennai Avadi Chennai Central Chennai Egmore Tambaram Coimbatore Jn. Ernakulam Jn. Hyderabad Hyderabad Deccan Kacheguda Secunderabad Jn. Katpadi Jn. Kozhikode Madurai Jn. Mysuru Jn. Thiruvananthapuram Central Thrissur Tirupati Tiruvallur Vijayawada Jn. Visakhapatnam Jn.

Railway companies

Active	Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) Konkan Railway Corporation (KRCL) Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation (KRTCL) Kerala Rail Development Corporation (KRDC)
Defunct	East Coast State Railway Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railways Madras Railway Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway

Accidents
and incidents

Related articles

Railways in Eastern India

National network/
trunk lines

Other lines/sections

Interstate	Asansol–Gaya section Asansol–Patna section Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line Barauni–Gorakhpur, Raxaul and Jainagar lines Barkakana–Son Nagar line Barsoi–New Farakka section Barsoi–Radhikapur branch line Dumka–Bhagalpur line Gaya–Mughalsarai section Hatia–Rourkela line Jasidih–Dumka–Rampurhat line Jharsuguda–Vizianagaram line Katihar–Siliguri line Kharagpur–Puri line Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam section Kothavalasa–Kirandul line New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section Tatanagar–Bilaspur section
Bihar	Bakhtiyarpur–Tilaiya line Barauni–Katihar section Barauni–Samastipur section Fatuha–Tilaiya line Gaya–Kiul line Mokama–Barauni section Muzaffarpur–Gorakhpur line (via Hajipur, Raxaul and Sitamarhi) Muzaffarpur–Gorakhpur main line Muzaffarpur–Sitamarhi section Muzaffarpur–Hajipur section Narkatiaganj–Bhikhna Thori branch line Neora–Jatdumari–Daniyawan–Bihar Sharif–Sheikhpura line Patna–Gaya line Patna–Mughalsarai section Patna–Sonepur–Hajipur section Raxaul–Sagauli line Samastipur–Muzaffarpur section
Jharkhand	Barkakana–Netaji S.C.Bose Gomoh line Barkakana–Muri–Chandil line Dhanbad–Chandrapura line Railways in Jharia Coalfield Koderma–Hazaribagh–Barkakana–Ranchi line Madhupur–Giridih–Koderma line Netaji S.C.Bose Gomoh–Hatia line
Odisha	Khurda Road–Bolangir line Cuttack–Sambalpur line
West Bengal	Ahmadpur–Katwa line Alipurduar–Bamanhat branch line Andal–Sainthia branch line Andal–Sitarampur loop line Bandel–Katwa line Bankura–Masagram line Bardhaman–Asansol section Bardhaman–Katwa line Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Eklakhi–Balurghat branch line Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line Howrah–Barddhaman main line Howrah–Bardhaman chord Howrah–Kharagpur line Kharagpur–Bankura–Adra line New Mal–Changrabandha–New Cooch Behar line Santragachi–Amta branch line Sealdah Main and North section Calcutta Chord link line Kolkata Circular Railway Sealdah–Bangaon line Sealdah–Ranaghat–Gede line Ranaghat–Krishnanagar City–Lalgola line Sealdah South section Sheoraphuli–Bishnupur branch line

Suburban
rail transport

Monorail

Defunct lines

Revived/ Under revival	Ahmedpur–Katwa Railway Bankura–Damodar Railway Barasat–Basirhat Light Railway Burdwan–Katwa Railway Bakhtiarpur–Bihar Light Railway Futwah–Islampur Light Railway
Inactive	Bengal Provincial Railway East Coast State Railway Kalighat Falta Railway Mayurbhanj State Railway Dehri Rohtas Light Railway Patna–Digha Ghat line Parlakimedi Light Railway

Zones & Divisions

Eastern	Asansol Howrah Malda Sealdah
East Central	Danapur Dhanbad Mughalsarai Samastipur Sonpur
East Coast	Sambalpur Khurda Road Waltair
North Eastern	Varanasi
Northeast Frontier	Katihar Alipurduar
South Eastern	Adra Chakradharpur Kharagpur Ranchi

Production units/
workshops

Transit points
with Bangladesh

Active	Haldibari–Chilahati Singhabad–Rohanpur Radhikapur–Biral Gede–Darshana Petrapole–Benapole
Defunct	Mahisasan–Shahbajpur Changrabandha–Burimari Gitaldaha–Mogalhat

Indian railheads
near India–Nepal border

Railway companies