CHENNAI: The Tirunelveli-Chennai Egmore-Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Express (Train Nos 20666/20665) operated on Wednesday (September 24) with an augmented 20-coach rake, following Southern Railway’s announcement of capacity enhancement.

The augmented train departed from Tirunelveli at 6.05 am and will arrive at Chennai Egmore by 1.55 pm. On the return journey, it will leave Chennai Egmore at 2.45 pm and reach Tirunelveli at 10.30 pm.

The new formation includes four additional chair car coaches added to the earlier 16-coach setup. The enhancement brought 312 additional seats, boosting the train’s total capacity from 1,128 to 1,440 seats.

The augmented train now features a configuration of 18 standard chair car coaches and two executive chair car coaches.

Railway officials said the move comes in response to long-standing passenger demand for additional capacity on the busy Tirunelveli-Chennai route.

The train runs on all days of the week except Tuesday. It provides stoppages at Tambaram, Villupuram, Tiruchirappalli, Dindigul, Madurai, and Virudunagar. It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 24, 2023.