The Southern Railway, headquartered at Chennai, is one of the 18 zones of Indian Railways. It is the earliest of the 18 zones of the Indian Railways created in independent India. It 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. The South Indian Railway was originally created in the British colonial times as Great Southern of 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. At present, after re-organization of existing railway zones and creation of new zones undertaken by the Indian Railways between 2002 and 2003, Southern Railway has emerged as the 4th largest zone after undertaking some gauge conversion projects and creation of new lines. The trains operated by the southern railway are rated the cleanest as well as cleanly maintained trains of the Indian Railways.
Ernakulam Junction railway station is the biggest railway station in the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. Controlling 376 train routes at a time, it is the busiest railway junction station in South India. 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. It is an A1 classified station operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways and comes under the Thiruvananthapuram railway division. Ernakulam Junction is also the first fully disabled-friendly railway station in India.
Kochi is a major port city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city is widely known as the commercial or economic capital of the state of Kerala.
The 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 Netravati Express (16345/46) 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.
The Venad Express is an Express train connecting Shoranur Junction and Trivandrum Central via Kottayam. The daily train's numbers are 16301 and 16302.
The 12625 / 12626 Kerala Superfast Express is a daily superfast express train of the Indian Railways that runs between New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala state. It is currently the longest-running daily Superfast train of Indian Railways (3027 km) and second-longest daily train in country after Avadh Assam Express. It is the second direct train to Kerala (1977) from the national capital Delhi after Jayanti Janata Express (1973) and first direct train connecting the state capital and Southern Kerala with New Delhi.
Cochin Harbour Terminus (CHTS) is one of the railway stations in the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. It is located on the Willingdon Island. The Cochin Harbour Terminus is the principal station providing rail connectivity to the southern segment of the Port of Kochi located on the Willingdon Island.. And hence it mainly handles goods transport in and out of the Kochi Port. Cochin Harbour Terminus railway station is not in use after the commissioning of Vallarpadam container terminus. The station is now locked and all the trains to this station from Ernakulam Junction were stopped in 2013.
Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division (TVC) is one of the six administrative divisions of the Southern Railway, Indian Railways. It has its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the state of Kerala, India. Thiruvananthapuram Division was formed on 2 October 1979 which serves the eight districts of southern part of the Kerala, Kanniyakumari district and some parts of Tirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu. With 104 stations in its territorial jurisdiction, it is the fourth largest out of six divisions in Southern Railway. It is the southernmost railway division of India and manages 625 km of route track and 108 railway stations in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This division operates the most number of long distance trains in India. The major stations of the division are Thiruvananthapuram Central, Ernakulam Junction, Kollam Junction, Thrissur, Kottayam, Ernakulam Town, Chengannur, Kayamkulam, Aluva, Nagercoil Junction, Kanniyakumari, Alappuzha, Changanasseri, Tiruvalla, Kochuveli, Varkala.
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.
Paravur railway station(Code:PVU) is a railway station in the Indian municipal town of Paravur in Kollam district, Kerala. Paravur railway station falls under the Thiruvananthapuram railway division of the Southern Railway zone of Indian Railways. It is a 'NSG 5' class railway station coming under the Southern Railway zone.
The Jolarpettai–Shoranur line connects Jolarpettai, on the Chennai Central–Bangalore City line in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Shoranur in Kerala. Incoming from Chennai/ Tirupati side via Arakkonam and Katpadi at Jolarpettai, there are several branch lines: Jolarpettai–Bangarapet–Bangalore, Salem–Omalur–Mettur Dam/Dharmapuri–Hosur–Yeshvantapur, Salem–Namakkal–Karur, Salem–Virudhachalam–Villupuram, Erode–Karur, Irugur/Podanur–Coimbatore–Mettupalayam and Palakkad–Dindigul. From Shoranur, the railway lines further branches out towards Kozhikode, Nilambur and Thrissur sides in Kerala. This network links the railway network in Kerala to the networks in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and subsequently other states.
The 16333/34 Thiruvananthapuram–Veraval Express is an Express train belonging to Indian Railways – Southern Railway zone that runs between Thiruvananthapuram Central and Veraval Junction in India.
Punalur railway station is the second-largest Railway Station In Kollam District located at Nedumkayam, Punalur on the Kollam–Sengottai branch line. It is the Gateway of Sabarimala. For Sabarimala devotees from Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka, SCT–PUU is the easy way. The temples related to Sabarimala like Achankovil, Aryankavu, and Kulathuppuzha are Located near Punalur. The Kollam–Shencottah railway line is the first railway line in erstwhile Travancore state and is more than a century old.
The Kollam–Sengottai section is part of the Kollam–Chennai metre-gauge rail route commissioned by the British during 1904. The line which was metre gauge has been completely converted into broad gauge and train services started.
Transport in Kollam includes various modes of road, rail and water transportation in the city and its suburbs. State-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses, private buses, Indian Railways, state-owned Kerala State Water Transport Department boats & ferry, taxis and auto rickshaws are serving the city of Kollam. The city had a strong commercial reputation since the days of the Phoenicians and Romans. Ibn Battuta mentioned Kollam Port as one of the five Indian ports he had seen during the course of his twenty-four year travels.
This is the timeline for Southern Railway zone that encompasses over present day Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Diesel Loco Shed, Ernakulam is a motive power depot performing locomotive maintenance and repair facility for diesel locomotives of the Indian Railways, located at Ernakulam Junction (ERS) of the Southern Railway zone in the city of Kochi, Kerala. It is one of the four diesel loco sheds of the Southern Railway, the others being at Tondiarpet (TNP) at Chennai, Erode (ED) and Golden Rock (GOC) at Trichy and the only locomotive shed in Kerala and the southernmost loco shed in India. Although it is in Kerala, its locomotives are used mostly in Goa and Maharashtra, and very rarely near the shed for passenger trains.
The Palaruvi Express is a daily Intercity express train which runs between Tirunelveli Junction in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad Junction in Kerala. The train first introduced as a service running between Punalur in Kollam to Palakkad. On 9 July 2018, it was extended up to Tirunelveli Junction.
The 22619 / 22620 Tirunelveli–Bilaspur Superfast Express is a Express express train belonging to Indian Railways Southern Railway zone that runs between Tirunelveli Junction and Bilaspur Junction in India.
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.
