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 Southern Mahratta Railway (SMR) was a railway company in British India founded in 1882. History Captain C. C. Johnson, officiating as constructing engineer of railways in 1858, forwarded the proposal for a railway to be constructed and called ...

to form

Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway The Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway was a railway company that operated in southern India. It was founded on 1 January 1908 by merging the Madras Railway and the Southern Mahratta Railway. Initially, its headquarters was at Royapuram in Ma ...

. The Madras Railway was formed in 1845 and its first track from Royapuram in Chennai (then known as Madras) to Arcot was opened in 1856. It had as its objective, connection of Chennai on the east coast with the west coast, as also linking up with Bengaluru and the Nilgiris, and to link up with the line from Mumbai. 1857 from Walaja Road to Cuddalore route was proposed via Katpadi. The link with the west coast was first established in 1862 with a line to Beypore, which served as the western terminus of Madras Railway. The western terminus was shifted to Kozikode (then known as Calicut) in 1888. The link between Jolarpettai, a station on the Chennai-Beypore line of Madras Railway, and Bangalore Cantt. was established in 1864. In 1871, Madras Railway extension up to Raichur was linked with an extension of

Great Indian Peninsula Railway The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminu ...

from Kalyan to Raichur, thereby establishing Chennai-Mumbai link. The Chennai-Vijayawada link was established in 1899, thereby paving the way for opening of the Howrah-Chennai main line. By the end of 1877 the company owned 150 steam locomotives, 391 coaches and 3223 goods wagons. The southern part of the

East Coast State Railway The East Coast State Railway was a railway company operating in India. It was a guaranteed company formed in 1890. It had a brief existence. The southern part of the East Coast State Railway (from Waltair to Vijayawada) was taken over by Madras ...

(from Waltair to Vijayawada) was taken over by Madras Railway in 1901. Amongst the constituent railways of Madras Railway were Kolar Goldfields Railway,

Nilgiri Mountain Railway The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is a railway in Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908. The railway is operated by the Southern Railway and is the only rack railway in India. The railway relies on its fleet of s ...

and Shornapur Cochin Railway. The Madras Railway was merged with Southern Mahratta Railway in 1908 to form

References

{{Authority control Defunct railway companies of India 1845 establishments in British India 1908 disestablishments in India Madras Presidency History of Chennai Railway companies established in 1845 Indian companies established in 1845 Railway companies disestablished in 1908