Ranipettai railway station, station code: RPT (TAMIL: இராணிப்பேட்டை தொடர்வண்டி நிலையம்) is a terminal railway station which falls under the Southern Railway zone of the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

. It belongs to chennai division. It is the oldest railway station. It serves the cities of

Ranipet Ranipet is a southern suburb of Chennai, India. Ranipet (lit. Queen's colony) is an industrial hub of Southern Chennai city in southern India. It is located about from the Chennai city center. It is a major industrial town located on NH 4 Che ...

Arcot Arcot (natively spelt as Ārkāḍu) is a town and urban area of Ranipet district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Located on the southern banks of Palar River, the city straddles a trade route between Chennai and Bangalore or Salem, between t ...

and

Walajapet Walajapet is a town or municipality and a part of Ranipet district in the state of Tamil Nadu. The streets in the town form a square shape which is a unique feature of the town. It will be easy for you to reach any part of the town with this ki ...

. It is constructed under British rule in 1858. It was constructed as a siding railway station at that time. This railway station is used to transport goods from Ranippettai town to

Royapuram railway station Royapuram railway station (station code: RPM) is a railway station at Royapuram, on the Chennai Beach–Walajapet section of the Chennai Suburban Railway network in Chennai, India. It is the second oldest railway station currently operational ...

. Currently this railway station is used as a goods terminal for Ranipettai.

History

It is the first train that ran in India. Later India's first passenger train starts running in the year 1853 from Bori Bunder To thane. Now

is the oldest surviving railway station in India.

Current situation

Train services were stopped in Ranippettai railway station after gauge conversion from metre gauge to broad gauge due to poor patronage. Plans are there to operate this railway station as a freight terminal due to increasing demands of cargo movement to nearby railway stations around Ranippettai town. But plans are made by railways to operate this railway station as a goods terminal. On 20 January 2021, this railway station becomes operational once again by transporting goods from Ranipet railway station to Dwarapudi in Andhra Pradesh. This railway station became operational after 25 years.

References

Railway stations in Chennai {{TamilNadu-railstation-stub