The Manamadurai–Virudhunagar line is a railway line connecting

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 ...

and

Manamadurai Manamadurai is a Municipality Town in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Manamadurai falls under Manamadurai Legislative assembly. Upgradation of Manamadurai to Municipality Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru made ...

towns 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 ...

History

A new railway line from – was proposed in the Third Five Year plan, which was supposed to ease the pressure on the existing – and – sections. On 1 September 1963, the – section was opened, along with

Aruppukkottai railway station Aruppukkottai railway station is located in Aruppukkottai, Tamil Nadu connecting Manamadurai and Virudhunagar. It is administered under Madurai railway division. A new railway line from – Via Aruppukkottai was proposed in the Third Five ...

in the same year by the then

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with th ...

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

. And on 2 May 1964, the rest of – section was thrown to traffic. Opened with

meter 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 ...

tracks, the section had Five crossing railway stations viz., mallankinaru, , Tiruchchuli, Narikkudi,Kadambankulam catering immensely the passengers of the region and

Tuticorin 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 ...

for traffic of goods. When this Route converted to broad gauge Mallankinaru(MNKR) and Kadambankulam(KMBK) stations are abonded due to low patronage.

Development

The conversion from metre gauge to broad gauge was effected and the section was closed for operation during 2008. The section which had 22 unmanned level crossings underwent safety inspection on 21 June 2013 for operational fitness. Finally, at a cost of the broad gauge section consisting of five major bridges, 145 minor bridges and five railway stations (including 3 crossing stations) under

and Sivaganga districts was re-opened for traffic on 14 July 2013 by the Union Minister of state for Civil Aviation,

K. C. Venugopal K. C. Venugopal (born 4 February 1963) is an Indian politician who is a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha elected from Rajasthan and former member of parliament in Lower House and is a member of the Indian National Congress. He has been appoint ...

References

External links

Southern Railways - Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manamadurai-Virudhunagar line * 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Railway lines opened in 1964 Virudhunagar district Sivaganga district