The Manamadurai–Virudhunagar line is a

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

connecting

Virudhunagar Virudhunagar is a city and the administrative headquarter of the Virudhunagar district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located southwest of the state capital Chennai and south of Madurai. Virudhunagar emerged as an important trade c ...

and

Manamadurai Manamadurai is a Municipality Town in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Situated 58 kilometres away from the heart of Madurai on the Cochin - Dhanushkodi National Highway. It is the 4th Largest Urban Agglomeration in the Siva ...

towns in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

History

A new railway line from – was proposed in the Third Five Year plan, which was supposed to ease the pressure on the existing – and – sections. On 1 September 1963, the – section was opened, along with Aruppukkottai railway station in the same year by the then

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian Federated state, state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de ...

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963. He also served as the pr ...

. And on 2 May 1964, the rest of – section was thrown to traffic. Opened with

meter gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

tracks, the section had Five crossing railway stations viz.,

mallankinaru Mallankinaru is a panchayat town in Virudhunagar district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Demographics India census, Mallankinaru had a population of 11,804. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. 13 km from Virudhunaga ...

, , Tiruchchuli, Narikkudi, Kadambankulam catering immensely the passengers of the region and

Tuticorin Thoothukudi (formerly called Tuticorin) is a port industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The city is capital and headquarters of the district. ...

for traffic of goods. When this Route converted to broad gauge Mallankinaru(MNKR) and Kadambankulam(KMBK) stations are abonded due to low patronage.

Development

The conversion from metre gauge to broad gauge was effected and the section was closed for operation during 2008. The section which had 22 unstaffed level crossings underwent safety inspection on 21 June 2013 for operational fitness. Finally, at a cost of the broad gauge section consisting of five major bridges, 145 minor bridges and five railway stations (including 3 crossing stations) under

and

Sivaganga district Sivaganga District is one of the 38 districts (an administrative district) in Tamil Nadu state, India. This district was formed on 15 March 1985 by trifurcation of Ramanathapuram district into Ramanathapuram district, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunaga ...

s was re-opened for traffic on 14 July 2013 by the Union Minister of state for Civil Aviation, K. C. Venugopal.

References

External links

Southern Railways - Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manamadurai-Virudhunagar line * 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Railway lines opened in 1964 Virudhunagar district Sivaganga district