West Line, Chennai Suburban

West Line, Chennai Suburban
Overview
Type	Suburban railway
System	Chennai Suburban Railway
Status	Operational
Termini	Chennai Central (Madras Central) Jolarpet
Stations	57
Operation
Operator(s)	Southern Railway (India)
Depot(s)	Avadi
Technical
Line length	213 kilometres (132 mi) (69 km Suburban and 144 km MEMU)
Track length	526 kilometres (327 mi)
Number of tracks	4 (till Tiruvallur) 3 (till Arakkonam) 2 (till Jolarpet)
Track gauge	Broad Gauge
Operating speed	90 km/h (maximum service speed)

West Line, Chennai Suburban Chennai Central MMC — Jolarpet

Legend Park Town(Interchange with MRTS) Chennai Park(Interchange with Suburban) Chennai Central(Interchange with Metro line 1) Chennai Central(Interchange with Metro line 2) 0 Chennai Central MMC 2 Basin Bridge 4 Vyasarpadi Jeeva 5.6 Perambur 6 Perambur Carriage Works 8 Perambur Loco Works 9 Villivakkam 12 Padi 13 Anna Nagar 12 Korattur Tirumangalam (Interchange with Metro Line 2) 14 Pattaravakkam 15 Ambattur 17 Thirumullaivoyal 18 Annanur 21 Avadi 24 Hindu College 28 Pattabiram Military Siding 29 Pattabiram Military Siding Engineering Depot 25 Pattabiram 29 Thiruninravur 32 Veppampattu 36 Sevvapet Road Puttlur 42 Tiruvallur 45 Egattur Kadambattur Senjipanambakkam 54 Manavur 58 Thiruvalangadu Mosur Puliyamangalam 69 Arakkonam See West North and South West Lines Melpakam 76 Chitteri 80 Anavardhikhanpettai 86 Mahendravady 90 Sholinghur 94 Thalangai 98 Marudhalam 105 Walajah Road 112 Mukundarayapuram 118 Thiruvalam 124 Seevur 129 Katpadi See West South Line 137 Latteri 143 Virinchipuram 148 Kavanoor 154 Gudiyatham 159 Mel-Alattur 164 Valathoor 170 Melpadi 176 Pachchakuppam 182 Ambur 186 Ambur Vaniyambadi Block Hut 189 Vinnamangalam 193 Vinnamangalam Vaniyambadi Block Hut 198 Vaniyambadi 202 Vaniyambadi Kettandapatti Block Hut 206 Kettandapatti 213 Jolarpet

The West line of Chennai Suburban Railway is the second longest line running west from Chennai Central (Madras Central) till Jolarpet covering a distance of 213 km. Suburban services terminate at Arakkonam and MEMU serives run till Jolarpet. As of 2009, around 400,000 commuters travel every day on the 171 suburban services operated in the Arakonam-Chennai section.^[1]

Sections

Chennai Central (Madras Central) - Tiruvallur

• This section has 2 dedicated lines for suburban train operations and 2 main lines.
• Some fast local EMUs are operated along 3rd and 4th main lines during peak hours .
• 9-car EMU's are only operated in this sector. 12-car EMU's are to be operated in the future.
• 5th and 6th rail lines are planned.

Tiruvallur - Arakkonam

• Suburban trains operate in the 2 main lines.
• 3rd railway track was completed and opened for cargo traffic in 2010 and is yet to be opened for passenger traffic. ^[2]
• 4th railway track is under construction.
• 9-car EMU's are operated in this sector.

Arakkonam - Katpadi

• No Suburban EMU trains operate in this section of west line.
• Only 1 MEMU Service operated from Chennai Central to Katpadi.

Katpadi - Jolarpet

• MEMU operates between Arakkonam and Jolarpet.

References

1. "New tracks to speed up suburban trains". The Times of India (Chennai: The Times Group). 31 October 2009. Retrieved 10 Nov 2012.
2. S. Vydhianathan. "Thiruvallur-Arakkonam third BG line awaiting clearance". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 January 2014.