The South Line of Chennai Suburban Railway is the fourth longest suburban line that runs southwards from Chennai (Madras) City. It is the oldest suburban line of Chennai (Madras), opened in 1931. Suburban services terminate at Chengalpattu (Chingleput) and MEMU services at Puducherry. The capacity utilisation of Chennai Beach-Egmore-Tambaram section is 69 percent. The tract travels along the GST Road from St.Thomas Mount to Villupuram. [1]
The first EMU starts from Chennai Beach at 3:55 and the last train at 23:59. Most of the trains in this section end at Tambaram station. The peak hour headway is 7 minutes and the headway at the first and last hours of operation is 20 minutes.
The first EMU starts from Tambaram at 4:00 and the last train at 23.55. Peak hour headway is 7 minutes.
The first EMU starts from Tambaram at 4:50 and the last train at 23:40. Peak hour headway is 15 minutes.
The first EMU starts from Chengalpattu at 4:05 and the last train at 23.10. Peak hour headway is 15 minutes.
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.
Transport in Chennai includes various modes of air, sea, road and rail transportation in the city and its suburbs. Chennai's economic development has been closely tied to its port and transport infrastructure, and it is considered one of the best infrastructure systems in India.
Chennai Egmore (station code: MS), is an NSG–1 category Indian railway station in Chennai railway division of Southern Railway zone. Situated in the neighborhood of Egmore, it is one of the four intercity railway terminals in the city; the other three are Chennai Central railway station, Tambaram railway station and Chennai Beach railway station. The station was built in 1906–1908 as the terminus of the South Indian Railway Company. The building built in Indo Saracenic style is one of the prominent landmarks of Chennai. The main entrance to the station is situated on Gandhi-Irwin Road and the rear entrance on Poonamallee High Road.
Chennai Beach is a railway terminus of the Southern Railway network in Parry's Corner, Chennai, India. Built on reclaimed land, the station serves the suburban services of the Chennai Suburban Railway and Mass Rapid Transit System (Chennai) and a few passenger trains. It serves as the northern terminus for the Chennai MRTS line. The station is named after High Court Beach, which was later built up as part of Chennai Port, and not after the Marina Beach, which is located a few kilometres away and is served by Chepauk, Triplicane and Lighthouse stations of the MRTS line. The station consists of 1500 square metres of open parking area.
The Chennai Suburban Railway is a commuter rail system in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, operated by the Southern Railways branch of Indian Railways. It is the second largest suburban rail network in terms of route length and the third largest in terms of commuters in India. Around 1,000 services are operated daily between 4:00 a.m. and midnight. It is the longest suburban circular route in India covering of 235.5 km (146.3 mi).
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 North west Line of Chennai Suburban Railway is the fifth longest line that runs west–north from Chennai City. Suburban services terminate at Tiruttani and MEMU services run till Tirupati, across the state line in Andhra Pradesh.
The West line of Chennai Suburban Railway is the second longest line running west from MGR Chennai Central to Jolarpettai covering a distance of 213 km. Suburban services terminate at Arakkonam and MEMU services run to Jolarpettai. As of 2009, around 400,000 commuters travel every day on the 171 suburban services operated in the Arakkonam-Chennai central section.
The South West Frontier line of Chennai Suburban Railway is the longest line running South-west from Chennai (Madras) City covering a distance of almost 289 km. Suburban services terminate at Arakkonam and MEMU services currently run till Vellore Cantonment which will be extended up to Villupuram upon completion of Vellore Cantonment and Villupuram section.
The North Line of the Chennai Suburban Railway is the third-longest suburban rail line in the system, running north from Chennai Central MMC to Bitragunta in Andhra Pradesh. Suburban services terminate at Sullurpeta and MEMU services operate to Bitragunta. As of 2013, more than 100,000 people use trains on the 46-km line between Chennai Central and Gummidipoondi every day, up from less than 80,000 in 2010. By 2017, this has increased to 120,000 people per day.
Tambaram Railway Station is an NSG–1 category Indian railway station in Chennai railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is also one of the railway terminals of the Chennai Beach–Tambaram section of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network, situated at a distance of 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the centre of Tambaram and 27 kilometres (17 mi) from Chennai Beach station. It is one of the fastest-growing railway hubs outside Chennai Central in the southern direction. Every day, on an average, around 150,000 commuters use the station. About 500 suburban electric trains operate from Tambaram, including those between Chennai Beach and Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram. Further, more than 25 express trains, including those bound for Howrah and other places in the northern India, pass through the town. It is also the third busiest station in the city. It is one of the four railway terminals within Chennai City. The daily ticket sales at Tambaram fetch ₹ 1 million, half of which comes from suburban travellers. It is the second most revenue-generating station in Chennai after Moore Market Complex. A total of 52 trains pass through the station.
The 17643 / 17644 Circar Express is a daily express train run by Indian Railways from Puducherry railway station to Kakinada Port railway station. The train covers a distance of 933 km.
Kodambakkam Railway Station is a railway station on the Chennai Beach–Chengalpattu section of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. It serves the neighbourhood of Kodambakkam, Vadapalani, and Ashok Nagar. The railway station was already in existence when the Chennai Egmore-Kanchipuram suburban railway was opened in 1911.
Pallavaram railway station is one of the railway stations of the Chennai Beach–Chengelpet section of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. It serves the neighbourhood of Pallavaram, Pammal, Nagalkeni, Anakaputhur, Pozhichalur, Cowl Bazaar, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Kovoor, Thandalam, Tharapakkam, Thiruneermalai, Thirumudivakkam, Kundrathur, Mangadu, and Keelkattalai. It is situated about 23 km (14 mi) from Chennai Beach, and has an elevation of 4 m (13 ft) above sea level.
Chengalpattu Junction railway station is an NSG–2 category Indian railway station in Chennai railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is a railway junction of the southern section of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network situated in the town of Chengalpattu, 56 kilometres (35 mi) south-west of Chennai Beach.
The Chennai Egmore–Thanjavur main line connects Chennai Egmore and Thanjavur Junction both in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Chennai Egmore–Thanjavur main line is part of Chennai–Viluppuram–Chidambaram-Mayiladuthurai–Kumbakonam–Thanjavur–Tiruchirappalli line. There are several branch lines : Chengalpattu–Arakkonam links to Chennai Central–Bengaluru City line, Guntakal–Chennai Egmore section, Viluppuram–Puducherry, Cuddalore–Virudhachalam, Mayiladuthurai–Thiruvarur, and Peralam–Nagapattinam sectors. The line connects the Kaveri delta to Chennai.
The 17651 / 17652 Kacheguda–Chengalpattu/Pondicherry Express is an Express train belonging to Indian Railways – South Central Railway zone that runs between Kacheguda and Pondicherry(3-days)/ Chengalpattu(4-days) in India. As the train used to run daily till Chengalpattu, the train got extended till Pondicherry from 13-03-2024 for 3-days and the other 4-days at Changalpattu itself
In accordance with an Indian Ministry of Railways decision, Indian Railways switched from its previous four-digit numbering system for passenger trains to a five-digit system on December 20, 2010.
This is the timeline for Southern Railway zone that encompasses over present day Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
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.
