Theni district will get its first-ever direct train to Chennai next month. A proposal by Southern Railway to extend the existing MGR Chennai Central-Madurai Express to Bodinayakanur (Bodi) has been approved by the Railway Board.
The train service would start from 19 February.
Rail connectivity was restored to the district only last year after the metre-gauge railway line between Bodi and Madurai was shut for gauge-conversion work.
The gauge conversion work on the 90 kilometre stretch took more than a decade. After gauge-conversion work was completed, a passenger train was started between Theni and Madurai.
The same passenger train would now be extended to Bodi along-with the train to Chennai.
Because the Bodi to Madurai stretch was metre gauge, it was not possible to provide a direct train to the district from Chennai. Currently, passengers have to change trains at Madurai or rely on buses.
The train line was important for the transport of cardamom, a major agricultural produce of Bodi.