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.
Nellai Express is a Superfast train operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. It runs on all days connecting Chennai Egmore with Tirunelveli Junction via Villupuram Junction, Tiruchirappalli Junction and Madurai Junction through the chord line.
The Pearl City (Muthunagar) Super Fast Express is an overnight Superfast Express train of the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. The Pearl City (Muthunagar) Superfast Express runs between Thoothukudi and Chennai Egmore via Virudunagar, Madurai, Dindigul, Tiruchchirappalli, Vriddhachalam, Villupuram and Chengalpattu.
The 12605 / 12606 Pallavan Superfast Express is an Intercity express typed superfast service operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. This service connects the cities of Chennai to Karaikudi via Tiruchirappalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The rakes of this train was upgraded to brand new modern LHB rakes from 30 June 2019.
The Vaigai Superfast Express is an Daily High Speed Intercity SF Express train which runs daily between Madurai and Chennai, via Tiruchirappalli. It is operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways and was introduced due to increasing demand for a day train between the cities during the 1970s. It was the first instance in which a high-speed train was introduced on a metre-gauge railway within the Southern Railway zone. Vaigai SuperFast is fondly referred to as the "King of Southern Railway"; and its rake sharer Pallavan Express "Prince of Southern Railway" running between Chennai Egmore and Karaikudi Junction are collectively known as the "Chord Line brothers".
The Kanniyakumari Express is a Superfast daily overnight train operated by Southern Railway zone of Indian Railways that runs between Chennai Egmore and Kanniyakumari in India. It is currently being operated with 12633/12634 train numbers on a daily basis.
The Rameswaram Express, previously known as the Boat Mail or Indo-Ceylon Express, is an express train that connects Rameswaram with the state capital Chennai via Tambaram, Chengalpet, Melmaruvattur, Viluppuram, Cuddalore port, Chidambaram, Sirkazhi, Mayiladuthurai, Tanjore, Tiruchchirappalli, Pudukkottai, Karaikudi, Sivagangai, Manamadurai, Paramakkudi and Ramanathapuram. During the 1900s, it was a combined train - steamer ferry- Train service between India and Ceylon. Connecting Chennai and Colombo, the system initially utilised a rail-to-sea operation, but changed to a rail-sea-rail operation. Passengers could buy a single ticket for the journey from Chennai to Colombo full stretch over sea journey. After Indian Independence, the ferry service was stopped and Train was running in the name Dhanushkodi Express from Chennai Egmore to Dhanushkodi. After the Cyclones ruined Dhanushkodi, the train service was stopped. Now, it runs from Chennai Egmore to Rameswaram via Villuppuram, Kumbakonam, Tiruchchirappalli, Pudukkottai, Karaikkudi, Devakottai, Manamadurai, Paramakkudi, Ramanathapuram, Mandapam, and Pamban.
Sethu Superfast Express, is a Superfast train route of the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways and runs between Chennai Egmore and Rameswaram via Chord line. It is a standard train consisting of 23 coaches. The train covers a distance of 603 km (375 mi) with an average speed of 69 km/h (43 mph).
The Silambu Super fast Express (20681/20682) is a train that runs between Chennai Egmore and Sengottai via Karaikkudi Junction. Initially it ran up to Manamadurai, later it was extended up to Sengottai. It was the only train in Indian Railways where LHB rakes were replaced by ICF coaches again. According to IR if a train gets new LHB coaches it won't be converted to ICF. But this train was again replaced with ICF coaches after getting new LHB rakes.
Manamadurai Junction railway station is an NSG–5 category Indian railway station in Madurai railway division of Southern Railway zone. It serves Manamadurai, located in Sivaganga district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the two major railway junctions in Sivaganga district and the other one is Karaikudi Junction. Manamadurai junction is the only four branched junction in the district. It has totally 5 platforms, in which only 3 are functioning and last two are used for docking unscheduled and freight trains.
The Uzhavan Express is a train route of the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways and runs between Chennai Egmore and Thanjavur Junction. The express was introduced on 1 September 2013. It operates daily and covers a distance of 351 km.
Chemmozhi Express is an express daily train run by Indian Railways between Coimbatore city Junction and Mannargudi. The train was named after Chemmozhi Manadu that took place in Coimbatore in 2010. This train passes through Tirupur, Erode, Karur, Tiruchirappalli, Thanjavur and Needamangalam with a total of 6 intermediate stations. The train starts at 00:30 from Coimbatore city Junction and reaches Mannargudi at 07:55 on the same day, covering a total distance of 335 kilometres (208 mi). Similarly for return direction, the train starts from Mannargudi at 20:20 and reaches Coimbatore City at 04:45 on the next day from the start of journey.
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 Chord Line connects Viluppuram Junction and Tiruchirappalli Junction, via Virudhachalam Junction in Tamil Nadu. It is the vital, shortest and busiest route connecting Chennai Egmore and Southern Tamil Nadu.
The Kollam–Sengottai railway line is a railway line in South India which connects Kollam Junction in Kerala state and Sengottai in Tamil Nadu. The Quilon–Shencottah railway line was the first railway line in the 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 in 1904. The line has been completely converted to broad gauge and is now fully operational from Kollam Junction to Shengottai. It is going to be the important cargo transportation line connecting Vizhinjam container port and South Indian States.
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.
Salem division is one of the six divisions of Southern Railway zone. Its headquarters is at Salem, Tamil Nadu.
The Chendur Superfast Express is an Express train operated by Southern Railway zone of Indian railways. This train runs between Thiruchendur and Chennai Egmore. It is a daily overnight service and an important train of Tiruchendur–Tirunelveli line.
The 20691 / 20692 Tambaram–Nagercoil Antyodaya SF Express is an Daily Unreseved Superfast express train of the Indian Railways connecting Chennai Tambaram and Nagercoil Junction in Tamil Nadu. It is operated daily from Chennai Tambaram to Nagercoil Junction as train number 20691, and from Nagercoil Junction to Chennai Tambaram as train number 20692.
The Chennai Egmore–Kollam Junction Express is a daily train that runs between Chennai Egmore and Kollam Junction in India. It is the successor of 115-year-old Quilon Mail, which ran once upon a time in metre-gauge lines between Madras and Quilon.
