| Amritha Express | |
| Color: | D4AF37 |
| Operator: | Indian Railways |
| Stops: | 22 |
| Distance: | 617km (383miles) |
| Journeytime: | 15 hours 45 minutes |
| Frequency: | Daily |
| Class: | AC Two Tier, AC Three Tier, Sleeper class, General Unreserved. |
| Seating: | Yes |
| Sleeping: | Yes |
| Catering: | No |
| Observation: | Large windows |
| Stock: | ICF coach pulled by WAP-4 from Electric Loco Shed, Vijayawada or from Electric Loco Shed, Arakkonam |
| Trainnumber: | 16343 / 16344 |
| Speed: | 45km/h average with halts |
Amritha Express is an overnight express train operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways between in Kerala, and Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.
It was introduced in January 2001 by the then Railway Minister O. Rajagopal, from to . This train is named after Mata Amritanandamayi, a well known spiritual leader. At first, the train used to run between Thiruvananthapuram Central to Palakkad, then extended up to Pollachi later extended to . It starts from Thiruvananthapuram Central, runs via,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, then reaches Madurai Junction the next day.
It was first introduced as – Amritha Express, via . Later, from November 2015, it had been extended and operated as a special express between Palakkad Town and .
Then, from 1 November 2017, Amritha Express was extended to with new stops at, Pollachi,,, and by withdrawing stoppage at Shoranur Junction. Starting from 16 November 2011, at, eight coaches from was linked with Amritha Express and ran as Thiruvananthapuram Central–Madurai Junction Amritha Express / Thiruvananthapuram Central–Nilambur Road Rajya Rani Express. On 5 May 2019, the link express from Nilambur Road was discontinued permanently, and both the trains ran as an independent train. Also Amritha Express was diverted to run via –– instead of Palakkad Junction–Shoranur Junction–Ottapalam–Thrissur. Therefore, Amritha Express will not touch Shoranur Junction, instead it will bypass Shoranur Junction.
The link train Rajya Rani Express has got independent coaches and will run with new terminal from to Nilambur Road.
Starting from September 24, 2022, this train will be converted from Diesel locomotive journey to a fully complete Electric locomotive journey since the Palakkad-Dindigul line got completely electrified and CRS Inspection was successfully completed.[1] [2]
This train is a daily service train with the following departures and arrivals at some of these stations:-
| Thiruvananthapuram Central ↔ Madurai Junction | ||||||
| 16343 | Station Name | Station Code | 16344 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrival | Departure | Arrival | Departure | |||
| - | 20:30 | Trivandrum Ctrl | TVC | 04:45 | - | |
| 21:30 | 21:33 | Kollam Junction | QLN | 02:47 | 02:50 | |
| 22:38 | 22:40 | Chengannur | CNGR | 01:41 | 01:43 | |
| 00:45 | 00:50 | Ernakulam Town | ERN | 23:53 | 23:58 | |
| 03:40 | 04:00 | Palakkad Junction | PGT | 20:30 | 20:55 | |
| 05:37 | 05:40 | Pollachi Junction | POY | 19:02 | 19:05 | |
| 06:42 | 06:43 | Palani | PLNI | 17:55 | 18:00 | |
| 06:35 | 06:40 | Dindigul Junction | DG | 17:02 | 17:05 | |
| 10:00 | - | Madurai Junction | MDU | - | 16:10 | |