Southern Railway (SR) is one of the eighteen zones of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Chennai and operates across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Puducherry. The origin of the Southern Railway can be traced back to the Madras Railway formed in 1845. Southern Railway was created on 14 April 1951 by merging three state railways, namely, the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway Company, and the Mysore State Railway and became the first railway zone created in newly formed India. Southern Railway maintains about 5,081 km (3,157 mi) of railway lines and operates 727 railway stations. It has the distinction of operating the first railway line in India, which opened for traffic from Redhills to Chindadripettai in Madras on 12 September 1836.
The 12617 / 12618 Mangala Lakshadweep Superfast Express is a Superfast train in India that runs between Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi and Ernakulam Junction in Kochi, Kerala via the Konkan Railway route. It is operated by Southern Railway with 12617 / 12618 train numbers. In 1973, the earlier version of this train was the first direct train to Kerala and Coastal Karnataka from the national capital. In its renewed form as Mangala Lakshadweep Express, it became the 1st daily train connecting North,Central Kerala and New Delhi after Kerala Express (1977). It is also regarded as the 1st daily direct access train to the national capital for the Malabar districts, Coastal Karnataka districts and Lakshadweep.It is the only train which connects Nashik,Manmad to Kerala apart from Coimbatore Jabalpur Express.
The 16345 / 16346 Netravati Express is a daily Express train connecting capital cities of Kerala and Maharashtra. It operates between Thiruvananthapuram Central and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. The train runs on the Konkan Railway. It is the one and only daily train in Kerala which connects Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram and vice versa on a daily basis..
The Cheran Superfast Express is an overnight Super Fast Express train in India which runs daily between Coimbatore Junction and Chennai Central via Salem Jn on the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways.
The 12431 / 12432 Hazrat Nizamuddin–Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express is a Rajdhani Express train service in India, connecting Hazrat Nizamuddin in the country capital New Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram Central, the capital of Kerala state. It is the longest-running Rajdhani Express train in India, which covers about 2845 km in about 42 hours.
The 12217 / 12218 Kerala Sampark Kranti SF Express is a Superfast Express service among Sampark Kranti category that runs between Kochuveli railway station in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the state of Kerala and Chandigarh the capital city of Haryana & Punjab. It is the longest-running Sampark Kranti express train which covers almost 3417 km in one way run. It is running with an LHB rake W.E.F. 8 February 2019. It is the only direct train from Kerala to punjab that runs on biweekly basis
Kannur railway station (station code: CAN) is an NSG–2 category Indian railway station in Palakkad railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is the largest railway station serving the City of Kannur in Kerala. It lies in the Shoranur–Mangalore section of the Southern Railway zone. It is the largest railway station in terms of area and number of tracks in North Malabar region. At ₹62 crore in financial year 2018–19, it is the fifth largest in terms of passenger revenues in Kerala, and second largest under Palakkad railway division. Almost all major trains connecting the other parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and North India halt here. Kannur and Kannur South are two different stations which serve Kannur city.
The 19331 / 19332 Thiruvananthapuram North–Indore Weekly Express is a weekly express train of the Indian Railways,running between Thiruvananthapuram North railway station, the capital city of Kerala and Indore Junction BG railway station of Indore, the largest city and commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh. It is currently being operated with 19331/19332 train numbers on a weekly basis.
Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) coach is a passenger coach of Indian Railways that is developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany and produced by rail coach manufacturing units at Kapurthala, Chennai and Raebareli. They have been used since 2000 on the 1,676 mm broad gauge network of Indian railways. Initially, 24 air-conditioned coaches were imported from Germany for use in the Shatabdi Expresses, following which, the Rail Coach Factory started manufacturing after technology transfer. IR declared that all ICF coaches will be replaced by LHB coaches to provide more safety and comfort. The last ICF Coach was flagged off on 19 January 2018, making way for LHB Coaches to be used for all new coaches to be introduced by Indian Railways in the future.
The Chennai Central–Coimbatore Shatabdi Express is a Shatabdi Express train between Chennai Central and Coimbatore Junction in Tamil Nadu.
The 12075/12076 Thiruvananthapuram - Kozhikode Jan Shatabdi SF Express is a daily running Jan Shatabdi Superfast Express train belonging to Trivandrum Division of Southern Railway zone of Indian Railways that runs between Thiruvananthapuram Central and Kozhikode stations in Kerala state of India.It is the fastest train that runs through Kerala and is heavily subscribed to. It clocks a maximum of 110 km/h during its journey.
The 12021/22 Howrah–Barbil Jan Shatabdi Express is a superfast express train of the Jan Shatabdi Express series belonging to Indian Railways – South Eastern Railway zone that runs between Howrah Junction and Barbil in India. It replaced Howrah - Tatanagar Shatabdi Express in 2003 and the replaced was Howrah - Rourkela Shatabdi Express between Jul 5, 1995 to Jun 2002 before making the route shorter. Howrah - Tatanagar Jan Shatabdi Express was subsequently extended to Barbil after introduction. Now it operates as train number 12021 from Howrah Junction to Barbil and as train number 12022 in the reverse direction serving the states of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha due to the fact that Barbil cuts across the state line between Jharkhand and Odisha.
11085/11086 & 11099/11100 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus–Madgaon Junction AC Double Decker Express was the Double Decker trains of Indian Railways, which were the first of its type to be introduced. They are accommodated with latest stainless steel LHB coach. They link Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra and Madgaon, an important town in Goa through Konkan Railway. The Double Decker express was discontinued by railways due to less occupancy and substituted with a regular express equipped with LHB coachin November 2022.
Kannur has a good road network connecting to Bangalore, Mangalore, Kodagu and Cochin. The railway station is also well connected to all parts of India. There is new International airport from Kannur opened on 9 December 2018, other nearest airports are at Calicut and Mangalore. Thalassery, Payyanur, Taliparamba and Iritty are the other transport hubs.
The 12083/12084 Mayiladuthurai–Coimbatore Jan Shatabdi Express is a Jan Shatabdi Express train connecting Mayiladuthurai Junction and Coimbatore Junction in Tamil Nadu, India. The passenger service is one among the twenty Jan Shatabdi Express trains in India other than Chennai Central–Vijayawada Jan Shatabdi Express that runs within Tamil Nadu.
The 16305 / 06 Intercity Express is an Express train belonging to Indian Railways Southern Railway zone that runs between Ernakulam Junction and Kannur in India.
The Trivandrum Central–Mangaluru Central Express is an Express train belonging to Southern Railway zone that runs between Thiruvananthapuram Central and Mangaluru Central in India. It is currently being operated with 16347/16348 train numbers on a daily basis. It first began operations as Ernakulam/CHTS Kannur express and then was extended to Trivandrum on the Southside and ran as Trivandrum Kannur Express. This train was then again extended to Mangaluru Central to provide connectivity to the people of Kasaragod with the state capital. In the Southern Railway Timetable Conference 2020, it has been decided to extend this train to Nagercoil as People of Nagercoil, Kanyakumari want an Overnight train to Mangaluru and north Kerala.
Kochuveli - Mangaluru Junction Antyodaya S.F Express is an bi weekly Superfast Express of antyodaya express category train belonging to Thiruvananthapuram division, Southern Railway zone that runs between Kochuveli in Kerala and Mangaluru Junction in Karnataka. It operates with 16355/16356 train numbers on bi-weekly basis. It is the first unpainted stainless steel train of India. This train answers the long standing demand of the people of North Kerala for a fourth train to the capital. This is the fastest bi weekly night train that runs from Mangaluru junction to Kochuveli that covers the distance of 620 km in 11 hours 35 min
The 20633/20634 Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express is India's 15th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting Kasaragod with state capital Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The train service was officially inaugurated on 25 April 2023 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Thiruvananthapuram Central. As of July 2023, it is the best-performing Vande Bharat Express train service with an average occupancy of 183 per cent, according to official data.
The 20631/20632 Mangaluru Central - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express is India's 33rd Vande Bharat Express train, connecting South Karnataka's coastal city Mangaluru (Mangalore) with Kerala's south and state capital Thiruvananthapuram. It is the second Vande Bharat Express in Kerala as well as India's first saffron coloured semi-high speed train. The first Vande Bharat train in Kerala started its service between Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram via Kottayam route in April 2023. With increase in patronage, there has been a strong demand by the passengers to have a second Vande Bharat between Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram so as to increase the frequency of this route per day to three trains. This vande bharat express is the fastest train between Mangaluru Central to Thiruvananthapuram Central and vice versa
