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.
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 Nilgiri Express is a night express train service operating between Chennai Central and Mettupalayam, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India. It is operated by Indian Railways.
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.
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.
Kottayam railway station is an NSG–3 category Indian railway station in Thiruvananthapuram railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is located in Kottayam, Kerala state, India. Kottayam lies on the busy rail route between Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. It is an NSG 3 category station. The station is served by several long-distance trains connecting most major cities in the country on a daily basis like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Bhopal, Pune and Mangalore. Trains connecting extreme ends of india also passes through the station like Jammu tawi, Dibrugarh etc. It is one of the busiest station in Thiruvananthapuram central - Ernakulam route due to ease in accessibility of Sabarimala temple. Kottayam railway station is the halt station for passengers to Sabarimala temple, Vagamon, Kumarakom, Illickal kallu - high range, St. Alphonsa's tomb, Pala and so on. Station has 2 passing platforms -, and 4 terminal platforms. Except platform 1A all the platforms are able to accommodate locomotives with 24 coaches and platform 1A can accommodate Memu/passenger trains with 13 coaches. Station is currently under construction with a second entrance. By completing double line from Chingavanam to Ettumanoor, southern railway has achieved its complete stretch of double rail line from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangalore
Thiruvarur Junction is an NSG–5 category Indian railway station in Tiruchirappalli railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is a junction railway station serving Thiruvarur town, headquarters of Thiruvarur district in Tamil Nadu in India and a focal point on the branch line connecting trains from Chennai to Nagapattinam–Velankanni–Nagore–Karaikal on one line and Karaikkudi–Sivganga–Manamadurai–Rameswaram on the second line and Tiruchirappalli–Thanjavur–Thiruvarur–Nagapattinam–Karaikal on the third line and Mayiladuthurai–Thiruvarur on the fourth line that branches out of the station.(I.e the station is situated between mayiladuthurai to Karaikudi section of TPJ divn)The station is a part of the Trichy railway division one of the 6 divisions of the Southern Railway zone.
Pollachi Junction railway station is an NSG–5 category Indian railway station in Palakkad railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is a historical railway junction serving the town of Pollachi, Tamil Nadu. This station is a part of the Palakkad railway division of Southern Railway Zone.
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.
Paravur railway station is an NSG–5 category Indian railway station in Thiruvananthapuram railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is a railway station in the Indian municipal town of Paravur in Kollam district, Kerala. Paravur railway station was formerly a D-class 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.
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 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.
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.
Tiruturaipundi Junction railway station is a junction railway station serving the town of Thiruthuraipoondi in Tamil Nadu, India. This station was first opened on 02.04.1894 along with mayavaram jn to muthupettai section.15.05.1919 Tiruturaipundi Junction - point Calimere line opened for traffic that day this station become junction.This station Is the only junction situated between thiruvarur -karaikudi section. The station is a part of the Tiruchirapalli railway division of the Southern Railway zone Railway station code: TTP.
Sengottai railway station is an NSG–5 category Indian railway station in Madurai railway division of Southern Railway zone. It serves Sengottai, located in Tenkasi district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on Kollam–Sengottai branch line and Virudunagar–Sengottai line. 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.
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.
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.
