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.
Ernakulam Junction railway station is an NSG–2 category Indian railway station in Thiruvananthapuram railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is the main railway terminus in the city of Kochi, Kerala. Controlling 376 train routes at a time, it is one of busiest railway stations 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.
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 Nilambur–Shoranur line is a 66 kilometres (41 mi)-long single-line, electrified broad-gauge (1676 mm) railway spur branch line of the Indian Railways connecting Nilambur Road railway station in Malappuram district with Shoranur Junction in Palakkad district in the state of Kerala. It is a branch line administered by the Palakkad railway division of the Southern Railway zone and one of the shortest broad-gauge railway lines in India. It was laid by the British in the colonial era for the transportation of Nilambur Teak logs to the United Kingdom through Kozhikode. The line is electrified and was inspected by railway officials from Southern Railway on 30 March 2024. With this, the Palakkad division achieved 100% electrification.
Angadippuram railway station is an NSG–5 category Indian railway station in Palakkad railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is a major railway station serving the town of Angadipuram in the Malappuram District of Kerala, India. It lies on the scenic Nilambur–Shoranur line of Palakkad division, Southern Railways. Trains halting at the station connect the town to prominent cities in Kerala such as Nilambur, Shoranur, Palakkad, Kottayam and Kochuveli. It is also the nearest railway station to Perinthalmanna (2.5 km) and Malappuram town (20 km).
Shoranur Junction is an NSG–3 category Indian railway station in Palakkad railway division of Southern Railway zone. It 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.
In Indian Railways, a MEMU is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train that serves short and medium-distance routes in India, as compared to normal EMU trains that connect urban and suburban areas. The acronym stands for Mainline Electric Multiple Unit.
Cochin Harbour Terminus is an NSG–6 category Indian railway station in Thiruvananthapuram railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is one of the railway stations in the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. During the peak time of the station, 17 trains operated from here to different parts of the country and served as the principal station providing rail connectivity to the southern segment of the Port of Kochi located on the Willingdon Island. The station, which has not been in use after the commissioning of Vallarpadam container terminus is now locked and all the train service to the station from Ernakulam Junction were completely stopped in 2013. Since then, only occasional tourist trains carrying passengers will arrive at the station – notably the Golden Chariot in 2022.
Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division (TVC) is one of the six administrative divisions in Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. It has its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram. It was formed on 2 October 1979, which serves the eight districts of southern part of Kerala, Kanyakumari district. 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. The major stations of the division are Thiruvananthapuram Central, Ernakulam Junction,Kollam Junction,Thrissur,Alappuzha,Kottayam, Ernakulam Town, Chengannur, Kayamkulam, Aluva, Nagercoil Junction, Kanniyakumari, Changanasseri, Tiruvalla, Kochuveli, Varkala, Mavelikara, Angamaly and Karunagappally.
Palakkad Junction (station code: PGT) is an NSG–2 category Indian railway station in Palakkad railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is one of the largest railway station in Kerala state, India situated in the city of Palakkad and the second largest railway station in the district. Palakkad Junction is the cleanest railway station in the state of Kerala as per the survey conducted by Swachh Bharat Survey. Palakkad Junction serves as the major railway hub for the city of Palakkad in Kerala while the secondary hub, Palakkad Town railway station.
Thrissur railway station is an NSG–2 category Indian railway station in Thiruvananthapuram railway division of Southern Railway zone. It 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.
Palakkad railway division is one of the six administrative divisions of the Southern Railway zone of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at city of Palakkad, Kerala. It is the smallest railway division in Southern Railway. It was formed by dissolving the Podanur division. Managing 588 route kilometers of track in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Mahé, it is one of the oldest railway divisions in India and had a route connectivity of nearly 1,247 km before the formation of current Thiruvananthapuram and Salem divisions. The terminal facility of Palakkad division is situated in Shoranur Junction & Mangalore Central of Karnataka state.
Kollam Junction railway station is an NSG–2 category Indian railway station in Thiruvananthapuram railway division of Southern Railway zone.) It 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 Jolarpettai–Shoranur line is a 5 ft 6 in broad gauge railway line connecting Jolarpettai in Tamil Nadu and Shoranur in Kerala. Incoming from Chennai, the railway line branches from the Chennai Central–Bangalore City line at Jolarpettai and proceeds towards Shoranur before further radiating out.
Kollam MEMU Car Shed is an ISO certified motive power depot facility for maintaining MEMU rakes, situated in the city of Kollam in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the four MEMU rake maintenance sheds serving the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Kollam MEMU Shed is functioning as the control and coordination center of MEMU trains running through Kerala state.
Punalur railway station is an NSG–6 category Indian railway station in Madurai railway division of Southern Railway zone. It serves Punalur, located in Kollam district of the Indian state of Kerala.
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 (Code:ERSX) 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 were mainly used in Goa and Maharashtra, and very rarely near the shed for passenger trains.
