Chennai Egmore–Kollam Junction Express

The Chennai Egmore–Kollam Junction Express (16101/16102, earlier known as the Quilon Mail) is a daily train that runs between Chennai Egmore and Kollam Junction in India. It is the successor of 115 years old Quilon Mail, which ran once upon a time in metre-gauge lines between Madras and Quilon.

History
Opened on 1 June 1904, the Quilon–Madras rail line was the first line in Travancore. Its official gauge conversion started in 1998 and completed in 2018. On 31 March 2018, the entire Kollam–Sengottai line was opened for passenger train service. The first passenger train was the Tambaram–Kollam–Tambaram special train (06027) that earned Rs 3.15 lakh by carrying 879 passengers against a capacity of 712. The line provides a shorter route to Thiruvananthapuram via Kollam. Other routes include: Coimbatore and Pollachi to Palakkad, from Madurai via Kanyakumari.

On 4 March 2019, railway started daily service between Kollam Junction and Chennai Egmore by extending Tambaram–Kollam tri-weekly special train to Chennai Egmore and increased the frequency as a daily service. The service was speeded-up by 35 minutes and the number of intermediate stops were reduced to 21 from 25 (Tiruttangal, Pamba Kovil Shandy, Bhagavathipuram, Auvaneeswaram are the four removed from the stoppage list)). The daily express train service between Chennai Egmore and Kollam Junction via Madurai Junction, Rajapalayam and Tenkasi Junction was one of the oldest routes in South India. The service was first flagged off by Travancore Maharajah Mulam Thirunal Rama Varma in 1904 as Quilon–Madras Mail. The service was diverted through Virudhunagar and Manamadurai in 1996 due to gauge conversion works in Virudhunagar–Madurai stretch. Later, the service discontinued in 2000 for gauge conversion works.

Route
It runs along the British-made historic Quilon–Madras rail route and other chord lines including Kollam–Sengottai which is the shortest existing rail route from Chennai to Kollam via Chengalpattu, Dindigul, Trichy, Madurai, Srivilliputtur, Tenkasi and Punalur.

Chennai Egmore→Tambaram →Chengalpattu Junction →Viluppuram Junction →Vriddhachalam Junction →Tiruchchirappalli Junction →Dindigul Junction →Madurai Junction →Virudhunagar Junction →Srivilliputtur →Rajapalayam →Sankarankovil →Kadayanallur →Tenkasi Junction →Sengottai →Punalur →Avaneeswaram →Kottarakara →Kundara →Kollam Junction

Traction
As the route is partly electrified, an Arakkonam-based WAP-4 or Royapuram-based WAP-7 hauls the train till Virudunagar Junction handing over to a GOC-based diesel WDG-3A or WDP-4D which powers the train for the remainder of the journey.

Coach composition
The train has 17 bogies comprising one A/C two-tier, two A/C three-tier, ten sleeper class, two unreserved general coaches and 2 luggage rakes.The number of coaches got increased from 14 to 17 from April 9th 2024, subject to positive inspection report submitted by RDSO to Southern Railway for running 22 LHB/24 ICF coaches in the Ghats section. The number of coaches will be further increased in the next phase after the extension of platforms in stations along Kollam-Sengottai section to accommodate 24 coaches.