Boatmail Express
Boat Mail Express with a TNP WDM3A
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| Overview | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service type | Express Train | ||||
| Status | Operating | ||||
| Locale | Tamil Nadu | ||||
| First service | 24 February 1914 | ||||
| Current operator(s) | Southern Railway Zone | ||||
| Route | |||||
| Start | Chennai Egmore (MS) | ||||
| Stops | 22 | ||||
| End | Rameswaram (RMM) | ||||
| Distance travelled | 665 km (413 mi) | ||||
| Average journey time | 13.10 Hours | ||||
| Service frequency | Daily | ||||
| Train number(s) | 16851/16852 | ||||
| On-board services | |||||
| Class(es) | First AC, Second AC, Third AC, Sleeper, Unreserved | ||||
| Seating arrangements | Yes | ||||
| Sleeping arrangements | Yes | ||||
| Catering facilities | No | ||||
| Observation facilities | Large windows | ||||
| Entertainment facilities | No | ||||
| Technical | |||||
| MS-VM (WAP 7/WAP 4, AJJ/RPM), VM-RMM (TNP WDM 3A/WDM-2) | |||||
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) | ||||
| Electrification | 25 kV AC, 50 Hz | ||||
| Operating speed | 47 km/h (29 mph) average with halts | ||||
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| Route map | |
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The Boat Mail or Indo-Ceylon Express was a combined train and steamer ferry service between India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Connecting Chennai and Colombo, the system initially utilised a rail-to-sea operation, but changed to a rail-to-sea-to-rail operation. Passengers could buy a single ticket for the journey. The current Boat Mail Express is a train operated by the Southern Railway unit of Indian Railways; it usually departs Chennai egmore at 7:15pm and arrives Rameswaram at 08:25am.
The train's name commemorates the 19th century mail service between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). It is one of the top most prestigious trains of Indian Railways and it has completed 100 years of service in 2014.
In the late 19th century, the railway portion of the route within India was from Madras (Chennai) to Tuticorin. At Tuticorin, passengers embarked on the boat mail steamer to Colombo in Ceylon. The train took 21 hours and 50 minutes for the journey from Madras to Tuticorin. The Boat Mail was one of the early trains to be given vestibuled carriages, in 1898.
In 1914, after the Pamban bridge was built, the train's route changed and it went from Madras to Dhanushkodi. A much shorter ferry service then took the passengers to Talaimannar in Ceylon, from where another train went to Colombo. The 35-kilometre (22 mi) long ferry journey was considerably shorter than the 270-kilometre (170 mi) long Tuticorin-Colombo route.
In 1964 a passenger train was washed into the sea by huge waves during the 1964 cyclone, when nearing Dhanushkodi. The railway tracks and the pier at Dhanushkodi were also destroyed. Following this, the Indian portion of the train service now only operates up to Rameswaram, while the ferry service to Talaimannar has since been discontinued. It now runs between Chennai Egmore and Rameswaram via Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Mayiladuthurai, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Pudukkottai, Karaikudi, Sivagangai and Ramanathapuram.
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