Vellore's front door
Katpadi Junction (code KPD) is in Katpadi, across the Palar river from the old fort town of Vellore, and it is how most people reach the city by train. That includes patients from all over India and abroad travelling to the Christian Medical College (CMC) Hospital, students of VIT University, and pilgrims bound for the Sripuram Golden Temple. The station is graded NSG-2, belongs to Southern Railway's Chennai division, and is described as the eighth-highest revenue-earning station in the Southern Railway zone.
Three lines meet
- Chennai Central–Bengaluru City line, the busy east–west trunk route
- Gudur–Katpadi branch, north to Tirupati and Andhra Pradesh
- Villupuram–Katpadi branch, south towards Tiruvannamalai and the Tamil coast
A platform for every direction
KPD has 5 platforms on 9 tracks, about 213 metres above sea level, organised by direction:
| Platforms | Trains |
|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | Chennai ↔ Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram |
| 3, 4 and 5 | Towards Tirupati and Villupuram |
Busy for its size
Nearly 259 trains halt at Katpadi, with 11 starting here and 67 passing through, and about 18,000 passengers use it daily. Premium services that stop here include:
- three Shatabdi Expresses from Chennai, to Coimbatore, Bengaluru and Mysuru
- two Vande Bharat Express services between Chennai and Mysuru
- the Double Decker Express between Chennai and Bengaluru
Compare their timings on Railopedia's schedule page.
Upgrades ahead
Katpadi is one of 73 stations in Tamil Nadu selected for upgrading under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
For hospital visitors
- CMC's main hospital is in Vellore town, a short drive across the river; autos and buses run from the station.
- Vellore Fort and its Jalakandeswarar temple are worth a visit between appointments.
- Tiruvannamalai, with the Arunachaleswarar temple, is reached on the Villupuram branch.