Madurai Division will to see a Lot of MEMU Trains and MEMU Maintenance Shed by Next Year: DRM

Madurai Division will to see a Lot of MEMU Trains and MEMU Maintenance Shed by Next Year: DRM

Madurai (MDU): If everything proceeds as planned by officials at Madurai Railway Division, the region will see a lot of MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) trains by next year, in place of conventional passenger trains.

Division officials have come up with a plan of constructing a MEMU shed at Kudal Nagar station, near Madurai Junction railway station. The shed will be used to maintain a bunch of MEMU trains which would be operated in the division.

Official sources in the division said the maintenance shed would have facilities to accommodate 20 rakes of MEMU. The maps and plans for the construction of shed were being prepared as principal clearance had been given by Railway Board, they said.

Divisional Railway Manager Sunil Kumar Garg said they were preparing the estimation for the construction of the shed. “We are working out plans to bring a MEMU shed and operate MEMU trains in the division”, he said.

Electric traction was completed January this year, providing seamless connectivity from Chennai to Kanyakumari. MEMU trains are ideal choice to ferry passengers to shorter distances faster.

Initially, the division will consider operating couple of MEMUs between Madurai and Trichy since work on track doubling (with electrification) on the Dindigul -Trichy section will be completed by end of this year.

In the next phase, MEMUs might be operated between Madurai and Tirunelveli, officials said.

All divisions of Southern Railways, except Madurai, have been provided either with MEMU or DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit) trains.

Southern Railway is looking for options of replacing passenger trains with these MEMUs or DEMUs so that more conventional rakes are available to operate more special trains.

Unlike EMUs (Electric Multiple Unit) operated in suburban trains, the MEMU trains will have the feature of toilets on the coaches enabling them to be used for longer journeys too.