This train connects Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram along with six big cities in South India – Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, Thrissur, Kochi and Kottayam.
Today's 12623/24 Chennai–Thiruvananthapuram Mail, is the successor to the 561/562 Cochin Harbour Terminus (in Kochi) –Madras Express that started running in 1944.
[1] It is the only daily train from Chennai to the South which does not have a halt at both Arakkonam Junction and Jolarpettai.
The train was made to run via Irugur Podanur line due to single line constraints at Coimbatore Junction, later it was restored via Coimbatore Junction in 2014.
The train is meant for achieving its maximum speed between Katpadi and Basin Bridge Junction.