Southern Railway 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. Southern Railway maintains about 5,081 km (3,157 mi) of railway lines and operates 727 railway stations.
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 (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. 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. Major stations under the railway division are Palakkad Junction, Ottappalam, Shoranur Junction, Kuttippuram, Tirur, Parappanangadi, Kozhikode, Quilandi, Angadippuram, Vatakara, Thalassery, Kannur, Payyanur, Nilambur, Kanhangad, Kasaragod, Mangalore Central, Mangalore Junction and Pollachi Junction.(NOT NOW, NOW under MADURAI DIVISION ) The terminal facility of Palakkad division is situated in Shoranur Junction & Mangalore Central of Karnataka state.
Mangalore–Chennai Mail is a Superfast Mail daily train operated by the Indian Railways between the cities of Chennai (Madras) and Mangalore via Salem, Podanur, Palakkad, Shoranur, Tirur, Parapanangadi, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod. It is one of the oldest train still being operated by Indian Railways. Earlier it ran from Madras Royapuram to Kozhikode (Calicut). When the line extended up to Mangalore, it ran up to Mangalore Central from Royapuram Chennai. When Madras Central came into existence its terminal was changed to Madras Central Chennai Central from Royapuram and it ran as Madras Central Chennai Central - Mangalore Central Malabar Express. Till 1987 it ran as Malabar Express, after that its name was changed to Chennai/Mangalore Mail. It was one of the prestigious train in Indian Railways. It runs always full by having more stoppages in northern Kerala beginning from Palakkad Junction to Kasaragod. It also has nine stoppages at Tamilnadu and it does not have any other stoppages in Karnataka except Mangalore Central
Thiruvarur Junction 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.
Pollachi Junction 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. After the division of Madurai division into 2, namely Salem division. It is being a part of PGT railway division.
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.
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 side via Arakkonam and Katpadi at Jolarpettai,the railway lines further branches out towards Kozhikode, Nilambur and Thrissur sides in Shoranur. This network links the railway network in Kerala to the networks in Tamil Nadu and subsequently other states.
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.
Thanjavur Junction is a junction railway station in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and serves Thanjavur, earlier known as Tanjore.
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 the important cargo transportation line connecting Vizhinjam container port and South indian States.
Karaikkudi Junction is one of the major passenger rail head and major junction located in Sivaganga district and serving the city of Karaikudi and surrounding places.
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.
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 a railway station serving the town of Sengottai in Tamil Nadu, India. It lies on Kollam–Sengottai branch line and Sengottai- Virudunagar 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.
