Rainipettai station back in action with freight movement after 25-year gap

After a gap of nearly 25 years, the Chennai Division of Southern Railway loaded the first rake of fertilisers in BCN (Bogie covered) wagons from Ranipettai Station today.

The 100-year-old Railway Station sprung back to life and started its first operation with the locomotive chugging on the track again.

The first rake of 21 BCN wagons transported 1,300 tonnes of fertilisers for Coromandel International, from Ranipettai to Tadepalligudem and Dwarapudi in Andhra Pradesh. 

These 21 wagons are to be operated as two-point rakes, of which 11 BCN wagons will head to Tadepalligudem and 10 BCN wagons to Dwarapudi. The total earning from this rake is Rs 15.32 lakh.

 

Coromandel International Limited, a fertiliser company, is located close to Ranipet station. And the commodity was being moved by road for the past 25 years.

Ranipettai Railway Station will serve as a goods yard for industrial areas in and around Ranipettai. Manufacturing companies like Coromandel, Thirumala Chemicals, Roca sanitary wares and several leather firms in Ranipettai will benefit by this goods yard going ahead.

The line between Chennai and Ranipettai is one of Indian Railways' oldest, and was laid in the year 1858. 

The track between Walajah Road and Ranipettai (Broad guage, 6.5 km) went into disuse in 1995 due to poor patronage. The line was relaid as a part of Tindivanam-Nagari new line project in 2012 but wasn't being used.

Chennai Division took up the task of finishing the last mile commissioning works like welding, ballasting, packing and destressing and line was made fit for goods traffic in November 2020.