Southern Railway zone

For other uses, see Southern Railway (disambiguation).

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.^[2]

Southern Railway

7-Southern Railway
Overview
Headquarters	Chennai
Reporting mark	SR
Locale	Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Karnataka
Dates of operation	14 April 1951; 73 years ago (14 April 1951)–
Predecessor	South Indian Railway Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Mysore State Railway
Successor	Southern Railway South Coast Railway South Central Railway South Western Railway
Technical
Previous gauge	Broad gauge Metre gauge Narrow gauge
Length	5,081 km (3,157 mi) route[1]
Other
Website	Southern Railway

History

See also: Timeline of Southern Railway zone and Madras Railway

The history of the Southern Railway can be traced back to the Madras Railway. In 1832, the proposal to construct the first railway line in India at Madras was made by the British.^[3] In 1835, the railway track was constructed between Little Mount and Chintadripet in Madras and became operational in 1837.^[4] The Madras Railway was established later in 1845 and the construction on the first main line between Madras and Arcot started in 1853, which became operational in 1856.^[5] In 1908, Madras Railway merged with Southern Mahratta Railway to form the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway.^[6][7]

In 1944, all the railway companies operating in British India were taken over by the Government.^[8] Post Independence, various re-grouping proposals were studied as there were 42 different railway systems. In December 1950, the Central Advisory Committee for Railways approved the plan for Indian Railways into six zonal systems and the Southern Railway zone 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.^[9]

Organisation

Southern Railway headquarters in Chennai

Southern Railway zone covers the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and a small portion of Andhra Pradesh.^[9] Andaman and Nicobar will form part of the zone once the proposed new railway line between Port Blair and Diglipur becomes operational.^[10]

The Southern Railway is headed by the General Manager, assisted by an Additional General Manager. Southern Railway is headquartered in Chennai and is divided into six divisions namely Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Palakkad, Salem and Thiruvananthapuram.^[9]

Name of Division	Established	Headquarters	Comments
Bezawada	6-May-1956	Vijayawada	Moved to SCR in 1966 and SCoR in 2019
Madurai	6-May-1956	Madurai
Tiruchirappalli	6-May-1956	Tiruchirappalli
Madras	1-August-1956	Chennai
Palakkad	4-August-1956	Palakkad	previously known as Olavacode
Guntakal	10-October-1956	Guntakal	Moved to SCR in 1977 and SCoR in 2019
Mysore	31-October-1956	Mysuru	Moved to SWR in 2003
Hubli	31-October-1956	Hubli	Moved to SCR in 1966 and SWR in 2003
Bangalore	31-October-1971	Bangalore	Moved to SWR in 2003
Thiruvananthapuram	2-October-1979	Thiruvananthapuram
Salem	14-November-2001	Salem

Operations and infrastructure

The zone operates both passenger and freight trains. Various classes of passenger trains including Vande Bharat Express, Shatabdi Express and Tejas Express are operated by Southern Railways.^[11] Freight operations include container traffic from the ports, coal bound to the thermal power stations, oil and petroleum products from refineries, cement and food grains. Most of the lines inside ports, thermal stations, manufacturing industries and owned by the respective companies and the zone provides a link connecting to its network along with the wagons and locomotives. The zone has a larger proportion of passenger traffic compared to freight.^[12][13] There are about 727 stations on the Southern railway network.^[14]

Locomotives

A Erode WAP-7 locomotive of Southern Railway

A X class locomotive of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway

Southern Railway utilizes various classes of electric and diesel locomotives to haul the trains. Steam locomotives are used by the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.^[15] The zone has three electric locomotive sheds and four diesel locomotive sheds.^[16]

Name	Location	Type	Locomotive class	Count
Electric Loco Shed, Arakkonam	Arakkonam	Electric	WAP-4, WAG-5, WAG-9	171
Electric Loco Shed, Erode	Erode	Electric	WAP-4, WAP-7, WAG-7	205
Electric Loco Shed, Royapuram	Chennai	Electric	WAP-7	109
Diesel Loco Shed, Ernakulam	Ernakulam	Diesel,Electric	WDM-3A, WDG-3A, WDM-3D, WDG-4, WDG-4D, WAG-5	69
Diesel Loco Shed, Erode	Erode	Diesel	WDM-3D, WAP-1, WAP-4, WAG-5, WAG-7	132
Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock	Tiruchirappalli	Diesel	WDM-3A, WDG-3A, WDP-3A, WDM-3D, WDP-4, WDG-4, YDM-4, WDS-6, WDM-7	148
Diesel Loco Shed, Tondiarpet	Chennai	Diesel	WDM-3A, WDG-3A, WDM-7, WDS-6, WDG-4	53
Coonoor Loco Shed, Coonoor	Coonoor	Steam, Diesel	X Class, YDM-4

A typical LHB coach of Indian Railways

Maintenance and workshops

Southern Railway maintains wagon and locomotive workshops at Perambur, Chennai and Ponmalai, Tiruchirapalli, engineering workshop at Arakkonam, carriage maintenance workshops at Basin Bridge and Egmore and a signal and telecommunication workshop at Podanur, Coimbatore. It has three EMU car sheds in Chennai at Avadi, Tambaram, Velachery and MEMU sheds at Kollam^[17] and Palakkad.^[18] Southern Railway maintains trip sheds at Basin Bridge, Egmore, Tondiarpet and Jolarpettai.^[16] Southern Railway operated ticket printing presses at Royapuram, Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchirappalli, but these have been phased out due to digitization.^[19][20]

Railway coaches and wagons

Southern Railways uses both ICF coaches and LHB coaches for its trains. ICF coaches manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai have been used predominantly for over sixty years since the formation of the zone in 1951.^[21] The ICF coaches are slowly being replaced by newer LHB rakes which provide better passenger comfort and safety.^[22][23]

Railway lines

Following are the list of railway lines operational.^[24]

Line	Start	End	Type	Gauge	Electrified	No. of Lines	Length	Major stations
Chennai Central-Jolarpettai	Chennai Central	Jolarpettai	Main	Broad	Yes	2 (4 till Arakkonam)	213 km (132 mi)	Katpadi
Chennai Central-Renigunta	Chennai Central	Renigunta	Main	Broad	Yes	2 (4 till Arakkonam)	135 km (84 mi)	Arakkonam
Chennai Central-Gudur	Chennai Central	Gudur	Main	Broad	Yes	2	136 km (85 mi)	Sullurupeta
Jolarpettai–Shoranur	Jolarpettai	Shoranur	Main	Broad	Yes	2	366 km (227 mi)	Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, Coimbatore North, Podanur, Palakkad Junction
Shoranur-Mangalore railway line	Shoranur	Mangalore	Main	Broad	Yes	2	315 km (196 mi)	Tirur, Kannur, Kozhikode, Kasaragod, Mangaluru Central, Mangaluru Junction
Shoranur-Ernakulam line	Shoranur	Cochin Harbour Terminus	Main	Broad	Yes	2	107 km (66 mi)	Thrissur, Aluva,Ernakulam Junction, Ernakulam Town
Chennai Egmore-Thoothukudi	Chennai Egmore	Thoothukudi	Main	Broad	Yes	2 (4 till Chengalpattu)	654 km (406 mi)	Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Virudhachalam, Tiruchirappalli, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Vanchi
Tiruchirappalli-Thanjavur	Tiruchirappalli	Thanjavur	Branch	Broad	Yes	2	50 km (31 mi)
Tiruchirappalli-Erode	Tiruchirappalli	Erode	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	141 km (88 mi)	Karur
Salem-Dindigul	Salem	Dindigul	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	159 km (99 mi)	Karur
Madurai-Rameswaram	Madurai	Rameswaram	Branch	Broad	No	1	173.82 km (108.01 mi)	Manamadurai
Tiruchirappalli-Sengottai	Tiruchirappalli	Sengottai	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	320 km (200 mi)	Karaikudi, Manamadurai, Virudhunagar
Vanchi Maniyachchi-Tirunelveli	Vanchi Maniyachchi	Tirunelveli	Branch	Broad	Yes	2	28.9 km (18.0 mi)
Tiruchirappalli-Thanjavur	Tiruchirappalli	Thanjavur	Branch	Broad	Yes	2	50 km (31 mi)
Coimbatore North-Mettupalayam	Coimbatore North	Mettupalayam	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	32.8 km (20.4 mi)
Nilgiri Mountain Railway	Mettupalayam	Udhagamandalam	Branch	Metre	No	1	45.9 km (28.5 mi)	Coonoor
Thrissur-Guruvayur line	Thrissur	Guruvayur	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	22.6 km (14.0 mi)
Shoranur -Nilambur line	Shoranur	Nilambur Road	Branch	Broad	Yes [25]	1	65.8 km (40.9 mi)
Ernakulam–Kayamkulam coastal line	Ernakulam Junction	Kayamkulam Junction	Branch	Broad	Yes	1 ( 2 in Ambalapuzha-Kayamkulam section )	100.34 km (62.35 mi)	Alappuzha
Ernakulam–Kottayam–Kayamkulam line	Ernakulam Junction / Ernakulam Town	Kayamkulam Junction	Branch	Broad	Yes	2	114.4 km (71.1 mi)	Kottayam
Kollam-Sengottai line	Kollam Junction	Sengottai	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	94 km (58 mi)	Punalur
Kayamkulam-Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram line	Kayamkulam Junction	Thiruvanathapuram Central	Main	Broad	Yes [26]	2	105 km (65 mi)	Kollam, Thiruvanathapuram North(Kochuveli), Thiruvanathapuram Central
Thiruvananthapuram–Nagercoil–Kanyakumari line	Thiruvanathapuram Central	Kanniyakumari	Branch	Broad	Yes	1 ( 2 in Nagercoil Junction - Nagercoil Town - Kanyakumari section)	89 km (55 mi)	Thiruvananthapuram South(Nemom), Nagercoil Junction, Nagercoil Town
Nagercoil - Tirunelveli	Nagercoil Junction	Tirunelveli Junction	Main	Broad	Yes	2	73 km ( 45.3 mi)
Tenkasi-Tiruchendur	Tenkasi	Tiruchendur	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	61.2 km (38.0 mi)
Tenkasi-Sengottai	Tenkasi	Sengottai	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	8 km (5.0 mi)
Irugur-Podanur	Irugur	Podanur	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	10.9 km (6.8 mi)
Dindigul-Pollachi	Dindigul	Pollachi	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	120.7 km (75.0 mi)	Palani
Podanur-Pollachi	Podanur	Pollachi	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	40 km (25 mi)
Palakkad–Pollachi line	Palakkad	Pollachi	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	57.8 km (35.9 mi)
Salem-Mettur Dam	Salem	Mettur Dam	Branch	Broad	Yes	2	38.9 km (24.2 mi)
Salem-Virudhachalam	Salem	Virudhachalam	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	139 km (86 mi)
Cuddalore-Thanjavur	Cuddalore	Thanjavur	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	146 km (91 mi)
Cuddalore-Virudhachalam	Cuddalore	Virudhachalam	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	57 km (35 mi)	Mayiladuthurai
Villupuram-Puducherry	Villupuram	Puducherry	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	37.6 km (23.4 mi)
Villupuram-Katpadi	Villupuram	Katpadi	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	161 km (100 mi)	Tiruvannamalai
Thanjavur-Karaikal	Thanjavur	Karaikal	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	95.4 km (59.3 mi)	Nagapattinam
Mayiladuthurai-Thiruvarur	Mayiladuthurai	Thiruvarur	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	39 km (24 mi)
Arakkonam-Chengalpattu	Arakkonam	Chengalpattu	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	68 km (42 mi)
Nagapattinam-Velankanni	Nagapattinam	Velankanni	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	10.4 km (6.5 mi)
Madurai-Bodinayakkanur	Madurai	Bodinayakkanur	Branch	Broad	Yes	1	88 km (55 mi)
Thiruvarur-Tiruturaipundi	Thiruvarur	Tiruturaipundi	Branch	Broad	WIP for Electification	1	26 km (16 mi)
Karaikkudi-Tiruturaipundi	Karaikkudi	Tiruturaipundi	Branch	Broad	WIP for Electification	1	149 km (93 mi)
Tiruturaipundi-Agastiyampalli	Tiruturaipundi	Agastiyampalli	Branch	Broad	WIP for Electification	1	36.8 km (22.9 mi)

Chennai-Mysore Vande Bharat Express

Chennai Central, the busiest station of Southern railway

Defunct railway lines include Kundala Valley Railways,^[27][28] Kochin Tramways,^[29] Madras Tramways,^[30] Tiruchendur Light Railway,^[31] Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri famine light railways,^[32][33] Kodaikanal Light Railway.^{[34] [35]}

Trains

Southern Railways operates 41 sets of express trains and 97 sets of superfast trains. The superfast trains include: Vande Bharat Express (8), Shatabdi Express (2), Garib Rath Express (2), Duronto Express (1), Jan Shatabdi Express (4), Sampark Kranti Express (1), Anuvrat Express (1), Humsafar Express (1), Tejas Express (1), Uday Express (1), Antyodaya Express (2) and Double Decker Express (1). Apart from this, it operates various Passenger trains, DEMU, EMU services, Chennai Suburban and the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.^[11]

Stations

See also: Categorization of Indian Railway stations by commercial importance

There are about 727 stations on the Southern railway network including 486 non suburban stations, 74 suburban stations and 166 halt stations. The major and highest revenue earning stations are Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Coimbatore Junction, Tambaram, Madurai Junction, Thiruvananthapuram Central and Ernakulam Junction.^[14]

Chennai Suburban

Chennai suburban map

See also: Chennai Suburban Railway and Madras Railway

Chennai Suburban Railway is the commuter rail system in the city of Chennai, operated by the Southern Railways. The system operates four lines with a track length of 1,174.21 km (729.62 mi), of which 509.71 km (316.72 mi) are dedicated dual tracks for EMUs.^[36][37]

Line	Start	End	Type	Length	Stations
North Line	Chennai Central	Sullurpeta	Suburban	82 km (51 mi)	30
South Line	Chennai Beach	Chengalpattu	Suburban	60 km (37 mi)	50
West Line	Chennai Beach	Tiruttani	Suburban	69 km (43 mi)	57
Chennai MRTS	Chennai Beach	Velachery	MRTS	19 km (12 mi)	25

Nilgiri Mountain Railway

Nilgiri Mountain Railway

See also: Nilgiri Mountain Railway

Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway in Nilgiris district connecting Mettupalayam and Udagamandalam. It was built during the British Raj in 1908 and is currently operated by the Southern Railways.^[38][39] It is the only rack railway in India and operates on its own fleet of steam locomotives between Coonoor and Udhagamandalam.^[40] In July 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the World Heritage Site of Mountain Railways of India.^[39]

See also

• Zones and divisions of Indian Railways
• All India Station Masters' Association (AISMA)

References

1. "Southern Railway vital statistics" (PDF). Southern Railway. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
2. Smith, John Thomas (1839). "https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sOILAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); External link in |title= (help)
3. Understanding Indian Railway Heritage (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
4. "Chennai: The track record". New Indian Express. 16 April 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
5. "On Forgotten Road". The Times of India. 31 March 2013. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
6. "Third oldest railway station in country set to turn 156". Indian Railways. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
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11. "Southern Railways". Indiarailinfo. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
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14. "Southern Railway stations" (PDF) (pdf). Indian Railways. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
15. "Coonoor loco shed opened for tourists". The Hindu. 29 September 2019. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
16. "Sheds and Workshops – Southern Railway". IRFCA. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
17. "Three ISO certificates for MEMU maintenance shed". The Hindu. 3 September 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
18. "Memu rakes yet to reach Kerala". Deccan Chronicle. 18 May 2018. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
19. "Ticket to the Past". The Hindu. 30 August 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
20. "Railway board plans to ease out 100 year old printing press". Times of India. 5 November 2017. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
21. "Is It Time for Indian Railways to Tear Up Ageing Tracks and Old Machinery?". Zee Media Corporation. 14 January 2022. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
22. Ayyappan, V. (4 January 2021). "Leakage Found in ICF Coaches". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
23. Debroy, Bibek (9 February 2018). "A 70-Year-Old Vs a 30-Year-Old: LHB Coaches Perform Better than ICF Ones". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
24. Southern Railway Route Map (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
25. "Electrification of Shoranur-Nilambur rail line completed". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
26. "Rail electrification: inspection begins". The Hindu. 14 December 2006. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
27. "Remains of Kundala Valley Railway, Munnar". IRFCA. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
28. Correspondent, A. (22 June 2019). "Monorail may return to Munnar". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
29. "Cochin State Forest Tramway". FIBIS. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
30. "Madras Tramways – FIBIwiki". FIBIS. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
31. "Kulasekharapatnam Tissainvillai Light Railway – FIBIwiki". FIBIS. Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
32. "Morappur-Dharmapuri-Hosur Railway – FIBIwiki". FIBIS. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
33. "Tirupattur-Krishnagiri Railway – FIBIwiki". FIBIS. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
34. "South Indian Railway 1909". FIBIS. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
35. "[IRFCA] Mysteries of a Defunct Ropeway". FIBIS. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
36. Transport in Chennai (PDF) (Report). Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
37. Project Brief of Chennai Metro Rail (PDF) (Report). Chennai Metro. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
38. "Nilgiri Mountain railway". Indianrailway.gov.in. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
39. "Mountain Railways of India". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 3 May 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2006.
40. "he Nilgiri Mountain Railway as old as the hills". The Hindu. 27 July 2019. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.

External links

• Southern Railways System Map
• Southern Railway official website