Southern Railway Zone
Coordinates: 13°04′57″N 80°16′37″E / 13.08240°N 80.27705°E
| Southern Railway | |
|---|---|
|
 Southern Railway headquarters, Chennai |
|
| Locale | Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry |
| Dates of operation | 1951-present– |
| Predecessor | South Indian Railway |
| Track gauge | Broad gauge only |
| Headquarters | Chennai Central Railway Station |
| Website | SR official website |
The Southern Railway (Tamil: தென்னக இரயில்வழி; Malayalam: ദക്ഷിണ റെയില്വേ), headquartered at Chennai, Tamil Nadu is the earliest of the 16 zones of the Indian Railways created in independent India. It was created on April 14, 1951 by merging three state railways namely Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway Company, and the Mysore State Railway. The South Indian Railway was originally created in the British colonial times as Great Southern India Railway Co. founded in Britain in 1853 and registered in 1859. Its original headquarters was in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and was registered as a company in London only in 1890.[1]
Southern Railway has its headquarters in Chennai Central and has the following six divisions: Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Palakkad, and Thiruvananthapuram. It covers the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry and small portions of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. More than 500 million passengers travel on the network every year. This zone of the Indian Railways is different from the other zones of India as its revenue is derived from passengers and not from freight.[2]
Chennai Central and Trivandrum Central are the most profitable stations under Southern Railway Division.[3] The most profitable route comprises Chennai Central - Arakkonam - Katpadi - Salem Junction - Erode Junction - Coimbatore Junction, Chennai Egmore - Viluppuram - Tiruchirappalli - Dindigul- Madurai - Tirunelveli - Nagercoil, Coimbatore Junction - Thrissur - Ernakulam Junction - Trivandrum Central, Mangalore Central - Calicut - Shornur Junction.
For better administrative control and improved development and operational reasons, the Railway Board approved the creation of a new Railway Division with Salem as headquarters in 2005 to improve railway infrastructure, facilities (lacking since several decades) and introduce better train services, thus satisfying the long felt needs of railway passengers in and around surrounding areas and thereby providing better conveniences to rail travelers. Coimbatore Junction and Erode Junction are also included in the Salem division . It is now the fourth largest of all the six divisions of the Southern Railway and was carved out of the Palakkad and Tiruchirapalli divisions. A large section of this railway zone are broad gauge lines, and only small section are meter gauge lines. The main improvements currently in this railway zone are to convert all lines to broad gauge, improvement of stations, platform covering, better catering stalls and an automated signaling system to avoid accidents.
The Chennai Central station handles a million passengers every day. Nine stations namely Chennai Egmore, Coimbatore Junction, Erode Junction, Salem Junction, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Palakkad have been scheduled for upgrading. Chennai Central, Ernakulam Junction[4] Trivandrum Central and Kozhikode railway stations are being upgraded to world class standards. Erode Junction is one of the main focal points where loco changes are usually made apart from water filling.
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[edit] Timeline and key events
1845: Madras Railway Company was launched.
1853: Madras Railway Company, registered in Chennai (Royapuram) began work.
1856: First passenger rail service began in Royapuram - Walaja Road route. Perambur loco workshop set up in Vaughan.
1861: Beypore - Tirur (Kozhikode) route commissioned . Great Southern Railway of India Tiruchirappalli - Nagapattinam up to 125 Km from the gauge set.
1862: Madras Railway Company's Tram way for local transport established in Chennai.
1864: Jolarpettai- Bangalore mail began service.
1868: Service began in Nagapattinam - Tiruchirappalli.
1874: Great Southern Railway of India(SIR) renamed to South Indian Railway
1875: Nagapattinam - Tiruchirappalli conversion to meter gauge.
1879: Meter gauge line between Pondicherry and Villupuram formed according to an agreement between French Government and the British Government.
1891: Nilgiri mountain railway was commissioned.
1898: Mettupalayam - Conoor service of Nilgiri mountain railway began. Olavakkode - Palakkad line constructed.
1899: Chennai-Vijayawada passenger service began. Boat Mail from Chennai to Ceylon, with passenger ship with a connecting service between Tuticorin and Ceylon started.
1902: Kochi - Shornur path was set up.
1904: Kollam - Thiruvananthapuram line was constructed.
1907: Mangalore - Kozhikode line was constructed.
1908: Chennai Egmore Railway Station was built.
1927: Shornur - Nilambur (Coimbatore) line constructed
1929: Chennai suburban railway service began.
1931: Chennai Beach to Tambaram meter gauge electric train service started.
1934: Kochi - Shornur gauge conversion.
1951: Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway Company, and the Mysore State Railwa were united to form a new zone of the Southern Railway.
1965: Chennai - Tambaram - Villupuram route was electrified (25KV AC).
1966: Vijayawada from Southern Railway and Hubli from South Central Railway was divided into separate divisions.
1975: Ernakulam - Kollam meter gauge to broad gauge conversion.
1976: Tamil Nadu Express from New Delhi - Chennai Central started its operation. Ernakulam - Trivandrum line was opened for traffic after gauge conversion.
1979: Chennai - Thiruvallur route electrified.
1982: Thiruvallur - Arakkonam route electrified.
1987: Chennai suburban - Avadi (EMU) service starts.
1989: Alappuzha - Ernakulam route opened for service.
2005: Tambaram, Chennai (Main Line) opened for service after gauge conversion.
1997: Chennai Beach Railway (MRTS) started its operations.
1998: Tambaram - Tiruchirappalli (line card) and Tiruchirapalli - Thanjavur opened after gauge conversion.
2002: Southern Railway, Bangalore and Mysore divisions separated to form the South Western Railway. Ernakulam, Thrissur electrified.
2004: Flying train of MRTS started service from Mylapore to Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai .
2005: The Nilgiri Mountain train declared as one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.
2007: First movement on Pamban bridge after broad gauge conversion. Salem Division split from Palakad and Tiruchirappali divisions consisting of Coimbatore and Erode. Salem - Virudachalam converted to broad gauge . Mylapore to Velachery, Chennai path of the railway service was opened on November 19.
2010: Villupuram - Mayiladuthurai gauge conversion began.
[edit] Trains of Southern Railway
- Tamil Nadu Express (2621/22)
- Grand Trunk Express (2615/16)
- Chennai - Delhi Duronto Express
- Rajadhani Expresses
- Garib Rath Expresses
- Brindavan Express
- Nellai Express (12631/32)
- Pandian Express(12637/38)
- Pearl City Express (12693/94)
- Rockfort Express (16177/78)
- Kerala Express (12625/26)
- Mangala Lakshadweep Express(12617/18)
- Himsagar Express(16317/18)
- Navyug Express
- Thirukkural Express (12641/42)
- Tamil Nadu Sampark Kranti Express (12651/52)
- Andaman Express (16031/32)
- Alleppey Express (16041/42)
- Nilgiri Express (12671/72) also known to be Blue Mountain Express.
- Cheran Express(12673/74)
- Kovai Express (12675/76)
- Intercity expresses (12677/78/79/80)
- Kanyakumari Express (12633/34)
- Kongu Express (12647/48)
- Rajkot Express (16613/14)
- Nagercoil Express (16609/10)
- Vanchinad Express (16303/04)
- Pothigai Express (12661/62)
- Boatmail Express (16101/02)
- Sethu Express (16713/14)
- Pallavan Express (12605/06)
- Vaigai Express (12635/36)
- West Coast Express (16627/28)
- Mangalore Mail (12601/02)
- Yercaud Express(16669/70)
- Yelagiri Express (16089/16090)
- Venad Express (16301/16302)
- Parasuram Express (16349/16350)
- JanShatabthi Express (12075/6, 12083/4)
- Matshyagandha Express (12619/20)
- Tea Garden Express (16865/16866)
- Cochin-Shoranur Passenger(56606/56607/56608/56609)
- Shoranur - Nilambur Road Passenger
- Mannai Express (16179/80)
- Kamban Express (16175/76)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Origins of Southern Railway". www.hinduonnet.com. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2006070300250500.htm&date=2006/07/03/&prd=mp&. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- ^ "Southern Railways revenue generation mode". www.thehindubusinessline.com. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/09/11/stories/2006091100530600.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- ^ Southern Railway PNR status
- ^ "Ernakulam Junction to be World Class". Chennai, India: www.hindu.com. 2010-07-13. http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/13/stories/2010071360420300.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
