Rani Chennamma Express

The Rani Chennamma Express is a train connecting the city of Bengaluru, with the city of Miraj. Miraj is a Medical City located in Sangli District of India, Miraj is an Important Medical hub for the people of Western Maharashtra & Northern Karnataka.

Rani Chennamma Express

Overview
Service type	Prestigious Express train of SWR
Status	Operating
Current operator(s)	South Western Railway
Route
Start	Kranti Veera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru City Junction (SBC)
Stops	26
End	Miraj Junction (MRJ)
Distance travelled	749 km
Average journey time	14 hrs 00 mins (up direction) and 14 hrs 55 mins (down direction)
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	16589/16590
On-board services
Class(es)	AC First Class, AC 2 Tier, AC 3 Tier, Sleeper Class, Unreserved
Seating arrangements	Available
Sleeping arrangements	Available
Catering facilities	Available
Baggage facilities	Available
Technical
Rolling stock	LHB coaches
Track gauge	Broad Gauge
Route map Rani Chennamma Express Route map

It is considered one of the prestigious and important trains of the South Western Railway. The train covers an average distance of 749 km operating on a daily basis. This train also ran from Bengaluru to Miraj Junction as Kittur Express during Meter gauge Era.

Commonly referred to as the 'Queen of the South Western Railway' or by train number 16589, the Rani Chennamma Express has completed 25 years of service. For the last two and a half decades, it has been one of the premium trains of South Western Railway that connects the north and south Karnataka regions.

Route

The train makes overnight journeys to major cities in the northwestern part of Karnataka - Hubballi-Dharwad, Gokak, and Belagavi from Bengaluru. It leaves Bengaluru at 21:15 and reaches Miraj at 12:00. For its return, the train departs Miraj at 15:30 and reaches Bengaluru at 6:45 the next day.

Apart from connecting the major industrial cities of Maharashtra and Karnataka with Miraj, Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi, Ranebennur, Haveri, Davangere, Kadur, Tiptur, and Tumkuru to Bengaluru, also caters to the smaller towns of Alnavar, Khanapur, Gokak, Kudchi, Raybag, andGhatprabha. Rani Chennamma Express is the busiest train in South India after the Mangalappuram Express. (INSAT).

Rani Chennamma Express is also an important train for the people of Kudchi, Ghataprabha, Raybag, Chinchli, and many other towns of the Belagavi District, as it caters to their demand of connectivity to the medical city 'Miraj Junction' daily.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, booking was suspended on the route for some time.

Relevance

The train's name refers to the historic queen Rani Chennamma, who ruled the northern part of India's Karnataka state. She was a mighty warrior queen who had her capital at Kittur in Belagavi district. The train's origin can be traced back to the 1940s when the meter gauge train was running between Bengaluru and Miraj.

Coach composition

From SBC (Bengaluru) to Mrj (Miraj):

Rani Chennamma express bound to Miraj Junction from Bengaluru city now runs end to end with LHB coaches.

On LHbification, Rani Chennamma Express rake was shared with Belagavi SF express & Shedbal Passenger which resulted in dissatisfaction of Passengers of both the trains.

There is a demand to remove its rake share and run it as an independent train.

Loco	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
	SLR	UR	UR	H1	A1	B1	B2	S1	S2	S3	S4	S5	S6	S7	S8	S9	S10	UR	UR	SLR	B3	S11	SLR

External links

• http://indiarailinfo.com/train/rani-chennamma-express-16589-sbc-to-kop/1373/136/77
• http://gudtimes.in/rani-chennamma-express-train-not-just-connects-places-but-also-people-and-their-heart/

References

1. "Rani Chennamma (16589) - Train from Bangalore Cy Junction to C Shahumharaj T |Cleartrip". www.cleartrip.com. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
2. Huralimath, Arunkumar (2020). "'Queen of South Western Railway' Rani Chennamma Express completes 25 years". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 7 August 2021.