Madurai railway division is a railway division belonging to the Southern Railways (SR),

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Officially created in 1956, it spans over making it the largest railway division of the Southern Railways. Prior to the formation of the

Thiruvananthapuram railway division Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division (TVC) is one of the six administrative divisions of the Southern Railway, Indian Railways. It has its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the state of Kerala, India. Thiruvananthapuram D ...

which was carved out of the division, it was one of the largest railway divisions in the whole of the country. Currently it covers up to 12 districts of

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 1 in

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 ...

. Its headquarters is in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

History

Origins

The first railway line in this region was open in 1857 connecting Madurai to Trichirappalli via

Dindigul Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...

and onward. In the following year, the railway line from Madurai to the port city of

Thoothukudi Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and he ...

was completed. In the same year, another line branching off from Vanchi Maniyachchi to

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

was opened. Only in the next century, most of the other present lines were completed. Among them were: *Madurai-Mandapam line in 1902 *Tirunelveli-Kallidaikurichi line in 1902 *Kallidaikurichi-Sengottai line in 1903 *Kollam-Punalur line in 1904 *Punalur-Sengottai line in 1904 *Pamban-Rameswaram line in 1906 *Pamban-Dhanushkodi line in 1908 *Mandapam-Pamban line in 1914 *Virudhunagar-Tenkasi line in 1927 *Dindigul-Pollachi line in 1928 *Thiruchirappalli-Pudukkottai line in 1929 *Pudukkottai-Manamadurai Jn line in 1930 *Virudhunagar-Aruppukkottai Line in 1963 *Aruppukkottai-Manamadurai Line in 1964

Inception

The Government decided to locate the Headquarters of the Division, which includes Tinnevely also, at Madurai. The Madurai railway division was formed in 1956, comprising the Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram line, Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil-Tirunelveli-Madurai line, Kollam-Sengottai-

line, Rameswaram-Manamaadurai-Madurai line, Manamadurai-Karaikudi-Tiruchirappalli line, Madurai-Dindigul-Pollachi line Karaikudi-Thiruduraipoondi-Thiruvarur line and the other branches of these lines. All lines currently in use have been converted to Broad Gauge while remaining sections namely Madurai-Bodinayakkanur section are in the process of gauge conversion. In 1979, certain sections of the railway division were carved out to form the

. The

Metre Gauge 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 ...

sections of Madurai division were retained, while all the newly laid

Broad Gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

Sections of Madurai Division were transferred to Trivandrum Division. Thus, the Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil-Kanyakumari BG line, and the under-construction Tirunelveli-Nagercoil BG line were transferred to Trivandrum Division thus bringing down the jurisdiction of the division to 1356 km. It was then mentioned that when the Tirunelveli-Madurai line is converted into BG line the sections falling under

Kanyakumari district Kanniyakumari district is one of the 38 districts in Tamil Nadu state and the southernmost district in mainland India. It stands second in terms of population density among the districts of Tamil Nadu. It is also the richest district in Tamil Nad ...

and Tirunelveli District would be transferred back to Madurai Division. The Tirunelveli-Madurai line was converted into BG line on 8-4-1981 but the railway lines in the southern district haven't been restored till date. Kanyakumari terminal station lacks the required Railway infrastructures and therefore request for more train services were always turned down by them citing the same handicap as the reason.

Administration and jurisdiction

Th division spans across two states namely Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Tamil Nadu it serves a total number of 12 districts, those being:

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

Pudukottai Pudukkottai is the administrative headquarters of Pudukkottai District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a large city located on the banks of the Vellar River. It has been ruled, at different times, by the mutharaiyar dynasty , Cholas, ...

Ramanathapuram Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...

Sivagangai Sivaganga () is a city and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is a rani velunachiyar kingdom of Tamil Nadu. It is an important city in this district for official and commercial purposes. Its ni ...

Theni Theni is a valley town situated in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu at the foothills of Western Ghats. It is the headquarters of the Theni district, located in a distance of 70km from Madurai. It is known for the large-scale trading of garlic, c ...

Tiruppur Tiruppur or Tirupur ( ) is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Tiruppur is the administrative headquarters of Tiruppur district and the fifth largest city as well as an urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of Noyyal Ri ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

districts. In Kerala, the division covers the district of Kollam till

Kilikollur railway station Kilikollur railway station (Code:KLQ) is a railway station in the cashew hub of Kollam city – Kilikollur. Kilikollur railway station is coming under the Madurai railway division of the Southern Railway zone, Indian Railways. The station is o ...

Categorisation of stations

The list includes the stations under the Madurai railway division and their station category. Stations closed for passengers - Nataransankottai, Nedugulam, Manamadurai East, Kulathur, Thondaimanallur and some stations.

Performance and earnings

The division won the inter-divisional overall efficiency - Best Division - award for its performance and earnings in the financial year of 2013. The total originating earnings for the year 2013-14 is Rs 576.29 crore as against the 2012-13 actual of Rs 523.68 crore leading to a 10% growth in overall earnings. On the punctuality front, the division achieved 96.2% for express and mail trains and 96.8% for passenger trains against the target of 96 per cent. Cash awards and merit certificates were distributed to officers and stations for their performance and maintenance. Railway school students performed cultural events during the celebrations.

Operations and services

Regular trains

Special trains

Stations

References

External links

Madurai railway division
{{Railways in Southern India Transport in Madurai Southern Railway zone 1956 establishments in Madras State Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Divisions of Indian Railways