The Coimbatore–Shoranur line connects Coimbatore in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

and

Shoranur Shornur is a town and a municipality located in the Palakkad district, in the Indian state of Kerala, located on the banks of the Bharathapuzha River. The town covers an area of 32.28 km2. Geography Shornur is located at . It has an ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. There is a branch line

Pothanur Pothanur is a panchayat town in Namakkal district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is almost a twin town of Velur, the biggest town in Paramathi-Velur taluk since too close to it. Demographics India census A census is the procedure of ...

– Coimbatore– Mettupalayam and Mettupalayam to

Udhagamandalam Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north west of Coimbatore and so ...

via

Nilgiri Mountain Railway The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is a railway in Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu, India, built by the United Kingdom, British in 1908. The railway is operated by the Southern Railway zone, Southern Railway and is the only rack railway in India. ...

. This network links the railway network in Kerala to the network in Tamil Nadu via the

Palakkad Gap Palakkad Gap or Palghat Gap is a low mountain pass in the Western Ghats between Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in Kerala. It has an average elevation of with a width of . The pass is located between the Nilgiri Hills to the north and ...

History

The first train service in southern India and the third in India was operated by

Madras Railway The Madras Railway (full name Madras Railway Company) played a pioneering role in developing railways in southern India and was merged in 1908 with Southern Mahratta Railway to form Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway. The Madras Railway was ...

from to Wallajah Road in 1856. Madras Railway extended its trunk route to Kozhikode in 1861. The Podanur–Mettuapalayam line was opened to traffic in 1873. The UNESCO heritage track,

, a

metre-gauge railway Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

was opened in two stages. The Mettupalayam-Coonoor section was opened in 1899 and it was extended up to Udhagamandalam (Ooty) in 1908.

Geography

Palghat Gap Palakkad Gap or Palghat Gap is a low mountain pass in the Western Ghats between Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in Kerala. It has an average elevation of with a width of . The pass is located between the Nilgiri Hills to the north ...

is a low mountain pass in the Western Ghats between Coimbatore in

and

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

. It has an average elevation of with a width of and the line passes through the Palghat gap, which is the only connection across the Western Ghats between

and

Electrification

The mainline was electrified in stages. The Coimbatore–Waylar sector was electrified in 1995–96, and the Waylar–Shoranur in 1996–97. The Coimbatore-Mettupalayam sector was electrified in 2014–15.

Speed limit

The Coimbatore–Shoranur line is classified as a "Group B" line which can take speeds up to 130 km/h. The current maximum permissible speed is 110 km per hour at Palakkad Shoranur section.

Loco sheds

Trains running on the line use locos from Erode loco shed and Royapuram loco shed. Erode shed holds

WDM-2 The Indian locomotive class WDM-2 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 1962 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic (M) engine, ...

, WDM-3A, WDM-3D, WDG-3A,

WDG-4 The Indian locomotive class WDG-4 (EMD GT46MAC) is a freight-hauling diesel-electric locomotive with AC electric transmission designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Diesel in 1997–1998 for Indian Railways, where they are classed as WDG-4. ...

, WAG-7, WAP-7 and

WAP-4 The Indian locomotive class WAP-4 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1993 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic (P) ...

locos, whereas Royapuram holds only WAP-7. It is home to the largest fleet of WAP-4 locos on Indian Railways.

Passenger movement

Coimbatore and

, on this line, are amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway. Coimbatore is classified as NSG-1 as per recent classification.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coimbatore - Shoranur line 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Rail transport in Kerala * * 1861 establishments in British India Railway lines opened in 1861 Transport in Coimbatore Transport in Palakkad district