CHENNAI: The rail commuters staged a protest in Chengalpattu Railway station on Tuesday after the reserved seats of the Howrah Express train were occupied by youngsters from the Northern states.
The West Bengal-Kanyakumari train goes via Chennai Egmore and Chengalpattu Junction once a week. On Tuesday 9 pm, the train departed from Egmore.
Police sources said youngsters from northern states, who had bought tickets for unreserved compartments, occupied the seats in the reversed coaches and did not allow people who had already booked their tickets to take their seats.
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the train reached Tambaram, many people boarded the train and asked the youngsters to go to their coaches, but they started to argue with commuters, and a few started to abuse the women. The commuters informed the TTR and the Railway police who were on duty in the station but no action was taken.
After the train reached Chengalpattu station, hundreds of commuters alighted, and started to protest on the platform. However, the loco pilot tried to move the train from the platform, but they pulled an emergency chain and stopped the train.
Later, the Railway police and higher officials who visited the spot talked to the passengers. They went inside the compartment and checked the tickets of all passengers. Those who were travelling without tickets were deboarded from train.
The train left Chengalpattu railway station at 11.30 pm with a delay of one hour.
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The suburban train reached Chengalpattu within an hour. File| Photo Credit: S.R. Raghunathan
The Chennai division of the Southern Railway having completed the third line project from Tambaram to Chengalpattu section a few months ago has finally and successfully operated the first suburban train service on Tuesday evening. Though the third line project was completed, due to an engineering issue at the railway overbridge between the two stations of Tambaram and Perungalathur, the authorities were in a dilemma about operating the suburban train service.
A senior official of the Chennai division said...
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there was an issue with the track alignment at the ROB 95 located between Tambaram and Perungalathur station. It was thought that the operation of suburban services would create safety issues for the commuters. However, the engineering department made a slight modification in the track alignment and successfully operated the first suburban train service on the new track.
The suburban train operated from Chennai Beach to Chengalpattu reached the destination within one hour after leaving the Tambaram railway station at 4.30 p.m.
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All travellers and enthusiasts would have observed, during their journeys, the alphanumeric numbers, such as 'WAP-7', 'WAG-9' boldly painted on the body of the locomotives operating on the Indian Railways. This article attempts to explain the system for nomenclature adopted by the Indian Railways for the locomotives operating on the Indian Railways. The numbering system of locomotives comprises two parts. First, the code prefix such as 'WDM-2' or 'WAM-4' denotes the type/class of the loco; second, a serial number such as '17604'. Each letter in the code prefix has a specific significance, and the understanding of this would help us understand the nomenclature adopted on IR and the varied types of locomotives running on the IR. The first (left-most) letter denotes the gauge. Thus, 'W' stands for Broad Gauge, 'Y' is Metre Gauge, and 'Z' is Narrow Gauge. We will normally see one of these letters as the first letter in...
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the number of the loco.
The Steam Era
In the bygone era, life was simple because there was only one category of the loco, based on the fuel is used. Those were days of the elegant, huffing and puffing steam locos, also colloquially called 'coal engines'. In those days, on the broad gauge, we had:
The letters 'P' and 'G' indicated Passenger service and Goods service, respectively. This means that 'WP' was a broad gauge passenger service loco, while 'WG' was a broad gauge goods service loco. Due to the shift to diesel and electric traction, both these locos are no longer in service on IR and can be seen only in museums.
On the metre gauge, we had the omnipresent 'YP' class locos, which had a flat front unlike their broad-gauge counterparts (WP). The goods trains on the metre gauge were pulled by 'YG' class locos, which had a look similar to the 'YP' locos.
Thus, in the days of steam traction, the second letter indicated the loco's 'service class' and mainly the 'WP'. 'WG', 'YP' & 'YG' class of steam locos dominated the IR scene.
The Change from Coal to Diesel Fuel
Then, in the sixties came diesel traction, and life became a little more difficult. Most of the diesel locos operating on the broad gauge are 'WDM-2' series, where 'W' is Broad Gauge, 'D' is Diesel, and 'M' is 'Mixed' (service). These versatile locos, made in India at DLW, Varanasi under license from ALCO, USA, have put in an exceedingly meritorious and long service in hauling passenger and goods trains, both singly and in pairs.
The number '2' indicates that it is a second-generation loco from the design technology perspective. Its predecessor, 'WDM-1', was used in much smaller numbers and were last seen on the Durg-Nagpur section of South Eastern Railway, hauling goods trains. The peculiarity of the WDM-1 was that it had the driver's cab only on one end, while the other end was flat -- like the ends of passenger coaches. So, while it appeared flush with the load behind it, the WDM- 1 had to be reversed for the journey in the opposite direction. On the other hand, 'WDM-2', though unsymmetrical, can be used in any direction without the need of reversing, thanks to the design of its driver's cab.
WDM-2's cousin on the metre gauge is an equally versatile 'YDM-4', while that on the narrow gauge is ZDM-1. You will also find 'WDS-4' bringing passenger trains into the platform at the starting stations. ('S' indicates 'shunting class'). Other variants such as 'WDP-1' ('P' for 'passenger service', and higher-powered (3100hp), 'WDP-2' and 'WDG-2' locos for passenger and goods service, respectively.
While 'WDM-2' and its related variants are based on ALCO designs, IR has recently gone in for a new technology, powerful (4000hp) locos based on the designs of General Motors, USA. These locos are christened 'WDG-4' ('G' for Goods), manufactured at DLW. These locos can be seen operating on the Hubli Division of the South Central Railway, hauling goods trains carrying bulk ore.
On the narrow gauge, locos such as 'ZDM' operate on Kangra Valley Railway and Kalka-Shimla Railway. In contrast, other narrow gauge variants pull tourist trains on the Neral-Matheran Railway near Mumbai.
The Electric Locomotives
The advent and the progress of Electric Traction have further complicated the numbering system. From a simple 'WP' or 'WG', we now move on to more complex nomenclatures such as 'WCAM-3', an addition of as many as 3 characters. But this addition is not without adequate meaning, as we will realise after the following discussion.
Electricity comes in two forms -- AC (Alternating Current) and DC (Direct Current). On Indian Railways, the Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Igatpuri and Mumbai-Virar sections are fed by DC supply (1,500V DC), while all other sections are fed by AC supply (25,000V AC). Therefore, the nomenclature system for electric locos includes a letter to differentiate between locos with DC traction from those with AC traction. As per this system, 'A' indicates 'AC traction' while 'C' indicates 'DC traction (not 'D' to avoid any confusion with diesel). One can, therefore, find 'WCG' class locos (Broad Gauge, DC traction, Goods duty) operating on the Mumbai Division, while their counterparts 'WAG' locos haul broad gauge goods trains on AC traction elsewhere on LR. Similarly, trains, such as Mumbai-Pune Deccan Queen Express were, till recently, hauled by gigantic 'WCM-l' and 'WCM-5' ('M' for 'Mixed' service, just as in 'WDM-2'), while Mail/Express trains in the other parts of the country are powered by AC electric locos such as 'WAM-4' (Broad Gauge, AC Traction, Mixed service).
The WAM-4 Ioco has been produced in vast numbers (upward of 500) and is in service very widely in India. Its predecessor, WAM-1/2/3, can be seen operating on Eastern Railway, for instance, on Sealdah Division. 'WAG-2' is of Hitachi design and operates mainly on the Bhusawal Division of Central Railway. This is a very handsome-looking loco, which is also the case with its 'younger brother', the 'YAM-1' used for hauling trains on the only electrified metre gauge section on IR, namely the Chennai-Chengalpattu section. Under Project Umgauge being implemented by the railways, this section will get converted to broad gauge, and rail enthusiasts will surely miss the sight of this lovely loco hauling a load of metre gauge coaches.
What WAM-4 is to Mail/Express trains, 'WAG-5' is to goods trains operating on the broad gauge. The WAG-S is the most common loco for hauling BG freight trains on AC traction. More than 700 locos of this variety can be seen on LR.
Driven by the ever-growing need for more speed & power, we have seen technological advancements on the IR scene too. Thus we now can commonly see a huge, 5000 horsepower, red-coloured, and well-contoured loco, the 'WAP-4' hauling super-fast Mail pr Express trains of as many as 24 coaches in various parts of the country. This BG-AC Passenger Service loco is capable of achieving speeds up to 140 kilometres per hour. Its predecessors, the 'WAP-l' and 'WAP-3' can be found in much lesser numbers -- they were probably used to improve the designs, which has now been adopted on the 'WAP4.'
Classification of Locomotives:
Antiquity System, 
Early locomotives in India had a bewildering variety of classification schemes. Regional railways had their own classification schemes too. For more details, refer to reference works such as Hugh Hughes' classic 4-volume work on Indian locomotives.
The first BESA standard classes appeared in 1903. The HPS, SPS, HGS, and SGS steam loco classes were quite popular. HP = Heavy Passenger, SP = Standard Passenger, HG = Heavy Goods, SG = Standard Goods. In these, the suffix 'S' stands for 'superheated'. An alternative suffix 'C' indicates a conversion to superheating, e.g. SGC. A suffix 'M' was sometimes used to mean 'modified' for variant designs. However, these classification codes were universally adopted, and various railways had their own schemes.
In 1924, when IR decided to classify engines, the initial notation was:
The IRS (Indian Railway Standard) classes XA, XB, XC, XD, XE, and others in the 'X' series for BG; YA, YB, YC, YD, and YE for MG; and ZA, ZB, ZC, ZD, ZE, ZF for 2'6" NG; and QA, QB, QC for 2' NG, were all adopted as standards by the Locomotive Standards Committee by 1925 or soon thereafter.
In fact, the Q classes were never built, and of the Z classes, only ZB and ZE (and a modified version of ZF to agree with existing locos) classes were built. The same manufacturer built not all locos of a given class. Some of these class designations were re-used later (e.g., ZD). In 1945, 'IRS' became 'IGR' (Indian Government Railway Standard), although the class notations remained.
'W' was used for broad-gauge instead of 'X' soon after World War II, introducing the WP and WG locomotives. 'Q' was also replaced by the 'N' code. Some early electrics had codes beginning with 'E' (EF, EM, EG, etc.), but after about 1945, when diesel and electric locos were included in the scheme, the codes for motive power were added (D, A, C, CA, B), which have remained unchanged.
Locos, except for older steam ones, have classification codes that identify them. This code is of the form '[gauge][power][load][series][subtype][suffix]'
In this the first item, '[gauge]', is a single letter identifying the gauge the loco runs on:
The second item, '[power]', is one or two letters identifying the power source:
The third item, '[load]', is a single letter identifying the kind of load the loco is normally used for:
The fourth item, '[series]', is a digit distinguishing the loco model. Until recently, this serial number was assigned chronologically as new types of locos were added.
The fifth item, '[subtype]', is an optional letter or number (or two of them) that indicates some smaller variation in the basic model or series, perhaps different motors, or a different manufacturer. With the new scheme for classifying diesel locos, the fifth item is a letter that further refines the horsepower indication in 100HP increments: 'A' for 100HP, 'B' for 200HP, 'C' for 300HP, etc. So in this system, a WDM-3A refers to a 3100HP loco, while a WDM-3F would be a 3600HP loco.
The last item, '[suffix]', is an optional indication that indicates something special about the loco, such as a different gearing ratio or brake system than usual.

CHENNAI: Southern Railway has resumed issuing platform tickets at MGR Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Tambaram, Chengalpet, Arakkonam and Katpadi stations.
An SR release said tickets would be issued till June 15.
The move is following demand from the public and is aimed at senior citizens and disabled people who may need assistance in boarding trains.
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to prevent overcrowding at stations. The sale of platform tickets was suspended on March 23 last year due to Covid-19.