Ernakulam Junction railway station is the main railway terminus in the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. Controlling 376 train routes at a time, it is one of the busiest railway station in South India and an important railway hub. At ₹158 crore in financial year 2018–19, it is the second largest in terms of passenger revenues in Kerala and the fifth largest in Southern Railway. Ernakulam Junction is an NSG-2 classified station operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways and comes under the Thiruvananthapuram railway division. It is also the first fully disabled-friendly railway station in India.
Shoranur Junction is the railway station located at Shoranur, Palakkad District, Kerala. It comes under the Palakkad Railway Division of the Southern Railway. It is the largest railway station in the state of Kerala in terms of area. It is an important junction because it is the point at which the line from Chennai via Jolarpettai, Erode and Palakkad meets the coastal line from Mangalore to Kanyakumari. Further, Shoranur junction is the node from which a separate Branch line goes to the town of Nilambur, about 66 km to the north. The Nilambur–Shoranur line, which connects two tiny hill-towns, is one of the most picturesque in India.
The Shoranur–Mangalore section, also known as Shoranur–Mangaluru section, is a railway segment of IR functioning under Palakkad Division of Southern Railway Zone. This is a 5 ft 6 in broad gauge electrified line which begins at the Shornur Junction railway station in Kerala and ends at the Mangalore Central railway station in Karnataka. This line passes through major towns including Tirur, Kozhikode, Vatakara, Thalassery, Kannur, Payyannur, Kanhangad and Kasaragod.
Kannur Railway Station, also formerly known as Cannanore, is the largest railway station serving the City of Kannur in Kerala. It lies in the Shoranur–Mangalore section of the Southern Railways of the Indian Railways. 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 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.
Thrissur railway station is a railway station in Kerala, India. Thrissur also is known as the Cultural Capital of Kerala. Thrissur railway station is a major railway head in South India and A1 classified station operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways and comes under the Thiruvananthapuram railway division. It is the busiest railway station in Kerala state in terms of rail traffic with 189 halting trains. At ₹97 crore in financial year 2018–19, it is the fourth largest in terms of passenger revenues in Kerala and the eighth largest in Southern Railway. Daily trains are available to Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Mangalore, and Hyderabad. This station lies on the Shoranur–Cochin Harbour section, which is one of the busiest railway corridors in Kerala. It has three satellite stations, Punkunnam railway station and two minor stations, Ollur railway station and Mulankunnathukavu railway station. Thrissur railway station also connects to the temple town of Guruvayur by Thrissur–Guruvayur section.
The Silver Line is a proposed higher-speed rail line in India that would connect Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city, and Kasaragod of Kerala state. It will have an operating speed of 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph), Maximum Design Speed: 220 km/h (140 mph), structures designed for 250 km/h (160 mph) allowing trains to cover the 532-kilometre (331 mi) distance in less than four hours, compared to the present 10 to 12 hours it takes to traverse this distance. Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Chengannur, Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod will be the stations in this corridor. The project is temporarily halted by the state government till the Central government approval.
Kasaragod railway station(Code: KGQ) is a major railway station serving Kasaragod Town in the Kasaragod District, state of Kerala.
Tirur railway station(Code:TIR) is the oldest railway station in Kerala. It is a major railway station serving the town of Tirur in Malappuram district of Kerala. It lies in the Shoranur–Mangalore section of the Southern Railways. Almost all passenger, Superfast and express trains have a halt here. The station has three platforms and four tracks. Though no trains originate from this station, trains halting at the station connect the town to prominent cities in India such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kollam, Thrissur, Kannur, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Pondicherry, New Delhi, Mangalore, Chandigarh, Pune, Jaipur, Jammu Tawi, Okha, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and so on. This is an "A" class railway station which earns more than 30 crore per annum. It has now been upgraded to a Model Railway Station (Adarsh). The first railway line in Kerala was commissioned on 12 March 1861 from Beypore to Tirur. The proposed high-speed rail has a stop in Tirur. The new backside entrance and parking area are being set up on the eastern side of the station, opening to Tirur Market.
Kollam Junction railway station is a junction station situated in the city of Kollam in Kerala, India. It is the second largest railway station in Kerala in terms of area and largest in terms of number of tracks and one of the oldest railway stations in the state. It is also the second busiest railway station in Kerala in terms of trains handled per day. World's third longest railway platform is situated at Kollam railway station.
The Ernakulam–Kottayam–Kayamkulam line is a railway line which runs through the districts of Ernakulam, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha in Kerala state of India. This railway line starts as a branch line from Ernakulam Town railway station towards Kottayam and joins with the Ernakulam–Kayamkulam coastal line route via Alappuzha at Kayamkulam Junction. This line comes under the Thiruvananthapuram railway division of Southern Railway Zone of Indian Railways. The line has a total distance of 118 km (73 mi). The Ernakulam Town/Ernakulam Junction - Kottayam section opened in 1956-57 and Kottayam - Kollam section in 1957.
Vande Bharat Express is a medium-distance superfast express service operated by Indian Railways. It is a reserved, air-conditioned chair car service connecting cities that are less than 800 km (500 mi) apart or take less than ten hours to travel with existing services. The train entered commercial service on 15 February 2019.
Events in the year 2023 in Kerala
The 20643/20644 MGR Chennai Central - Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express is India's 13th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the city of Chennai with Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
The 22349/22350 Patna - Ranchi Vande Bharat Express is India's 20th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the city of Patna in Bihar with the city of Ranchi in Jharkhand. The train was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 June 2023 via video conference from Rani Kamalapati (Habibganj) railway station.
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.
The 20646/20645 Mangaluru Central - Madgaon Vande Bharat Express is India's 40th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the industrial port city of Mangalore in western Karnataka with Madgaon, a capital city in the state of Goa.
The 22488/22487 Amritsar - Delhi Junction Vande Bharat Express is India's 38th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the metropolitan city of Amritsar with the capital city of India, New Delhi.
The 20642/20641 Coimbatore - Bengaluru Cantonment Vande Bharat Express is India's 39th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Bangalore in Karnataka. The train was inaugurated on by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing from Ayodhya Dham Junction on 30 December 2023 and started scheduled commercial service from 1 January 2024.
The 22962/22961 Ahmedabad - Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express is India's 45th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the largest city of Gujarat, Ahmedabad with the west coastal capital city Mumbai in Maharashtra. This express train was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing from Ahmedabad on March 12 2024.
The 20841/20842 Bhubaneswar - Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express is India's 50th Vande Bharat Express train, connecting the metropolitan city of Odisha, Bhubaneswar with the largest metropolitan city Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. This express train was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing from Ahmedabad on March 12 2024.
