Kumbakonam railway station is a railway station serving the city of

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

in Tamil Nadu, India. The station is a part of the

Tiruchirappalli railway division Tiruchirappalli railway division () is one of the six railway divisions of Southern Railway zone (SR) of India. It has its administrative headquarters located at Tiruchirappalli. It serves most of the districts of delta region and Central Tamil ...

of the Southern Railway Zone and connects the city to various parts of the state as well as the rest of the country.The station was declared as cleanest railway station in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is 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 India ...

and ranked fifth best in the national level in 2016. It is classified as an "'A' category railway station" in the Trichy railway division of the Southern Railway Zone.It is one of the busiest and top revenue generating stations of the Southern Railway zone after Tiruchirapalli TPJ, Thanjavur TJ in Tiruchirapalli division. The Shradha Sethu express connected Kumbakonam to Ayodhya. The well-known Mahamaham tank is from the railway station.

History

The Kumbakonam railway station opened to passenger service on 15 February 1877, when the then South Indian Railway commenced rail traffic between

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

and Mayavaram (now

Mayiladuthurai Mayiladuthurai (formerly known as Mayavaram or Mayuram) is a town and district headquarter of Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located at a distance of from the state capital, Chennai. Mayiladuthurai was ruled by Mediev ...

) for a distance of .

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

, on a

yatra ( sa, यात्रा, 'journey', 'procession'), in Indian-origin religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, generally means a pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of sacred rivers, sacred mountains, places associated w ...

from

Rameswaram Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kilo ...

, alighted at Kumbakonam station on January 26, 1897, and it was on that day in Kumbakonam that he gave his "Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached" speech to spur the people of the nation. A plaque installed by the Railways in the station proclaims the importance of the event.

Development

After serving the railways for decades, the British-era vintage metre-gauge line was scrapped and the last passenger train on those tracks was operated between Kumbakonam and Chennai Egmore on 1 April 2004 following which the broad-gauge tracks were laid. Gradually, the station came to have several facilities, including water filling for coaches and steam engines to enjoy the status of an important junction. Kumbakonam station developed quickly, and the works were implemented ahead of the Mahamaham festival in 2004. Now, a total of 36 trains patronise the station every day serving 2500 passengers. Due to the strong patronage by the region's passengers and commuters, Kumbakonam has enjoyed "Grade A" railway station status. Kumbakonam station is also rated as the fifth-cleanest station in India and the cleanest station in Tamil Nadu, according to the survey of major railway stations for cleanliness ranking in 2016 commissioned by the Railways. The Thanjavur District Rail Users' Association honoured the Railway officials and conservancy staff for cleanliness front on the occasion.

Location and layout

The railway station is located off the Kamarajar Road, Kumbakonam. The nearest bus depot is located in

while the nearest airport,

Tiruchirappalli International Airport Tiruchirappalli International Airport (IATA: TRZ, ICAO: VOTR) is an international airport serving Tiruchirappalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The airport spread over an area of is located on National Highway 336, about south of the ci ...

, is situated away in

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

Lines

* BG single line towards via , , and . * BG single line towards via

Papanasam Papanasam is a panchayat town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Kumbakonam. The name literally translates to "Destruction of Sins" in the Tamil language. It is the suburban region ...

. *BG single line towards via

Jayankondam Jayankondam is a Second Grade Municipality in Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu in India. As of 2011, the town had a population of 33,945. Huge amounts of lignite deposits have been found here and power projects have been initiated by the Neyveli ...

(survey completed) *BG single line towards via Alangudi (survey completed)

Suburban stations

*Darasuramn (DSM) *Sundaraperumal Kovil (SPL) *Swamimalai (SWI) *Papanasam (PML) *Thirunageswaram (TRM) *Tiruvidaimaruthur (TDR) *Aduthurai (ATD)

Connections

The railway station is about away from Central Bus Station and away from Town Bus stand. There are frequent town buses and mini bus services directly connected to Town Bus stand and Central Bus station.

References

External links

* * {{Railway stations in Tamil Nadu Trichy railway division Railway stations in Thanjavur district Railway stations in India opened in 1877 Kumbakonam