Southern Railway zone
 | |
 7-Southern Railway | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Chennai |
| Reporting mark | SR |
| Locale | Tamil Nadu,Kerala,Andhra Pradesh,Puducherry,Karnataka |
| Dates of operation | 14 April 1951– |
| Predecessor | South Indian Railway Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Mysore State Railway |
| Successor | Southern Railway South Coast Railway South Central Railway South Western Railway |
| Technical | |
| Previous gauge | Broad gauge Metre gauge Narrow gauge |
| Length | 5,081 km (3,157 mi) route[1] |
| Other | |
| Website | Southern Railway |
Southern Railway(SR) is one of theeighteen zonesofIndian Railways.It is headquartered atChennaiand operates across thestatesofTamil Nadu,Kerala,Andhra Pradeshand theunion territoryofPuducherry.The origin of the Southern Railway can be traced back to theMadras Railwayformed in 1845. Southern Railway was created on 14 April 1951 by merging three state railways, namely, theMadras and Southern Mahratta Railway,theSouth Indian Railway Company,and theMysore State Railwayand became the first railway zone created in newly formed India. Southern Railway maintains about 5,081 km (3,157 mi) of railway lines and operates 727railway stations.It has the distinction of operating the first railway line inIndia,which opened for traffic from Redhills to Chindadripettai inMadrason 12 September 1836.[2]
History
[edit]The history of the Southern Railway can be traced back to theMadras Railway.In 1832, the proposal to construct the first railway line in India atMadraswas made by theBritish.[3]In 1835, therailway trackwas constructed betweenLittle MountandChintadripetinMadrasand became operational in 1837.[4]TheMadras Railwaywas established later in 1845 and the construction on the first main line between Madras andArcotstarted in 1853, which became operational in 1856.[5]In 1908,Madras Railwaymerged withSouthern Mahratta Railwayto form theMadras and Southern Mahratta Railway.[6][7]
In 1944, all the railway companies operating inBritish Indiawere taken over by the Government.[8]PostIndependence,various re-grouping proposals were studied as there were 42 different railway systems. In December 1950, the Central Advisory Committee for Railways approved the plan for Indian Railways into six zonal systems and the Southern Railway zone was created on 14 April 1951 by merging three state railways, namely, theMadras and Southern Mahratta Railway,theSouth Indian Railway Company,and theMysore State Railway.[9]
Organisation
[edit]
Southern Railway zone covers the states ofTamil Nadu,Kerala,Puducherryand a small portion ofAndhra Pradesh.[9]Andaman and Nicobarwill form part of the zone once the proposed new railway line betweenPort BlairandDiglipurbecomes operational.[10]
The Southern Railway is headed by the General Manager, assisted by an Additional General Manager. Southern Railway is headquartered in Chennai and is divided into six divisions namelyChennai,Tiruchirappalli,Madurai,Palakkad,SalemandThiruvananthapuram.[9]
| Name of Division | Established | Headquarters | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bezawada | 6-May-1956 | Vijayawada | Moved toSCRin 1966 andSCoRin 2019 |
| Madurai | 6-May-1956 | Madurai | |
| Tiruchirappalli | 6-May-1956 | Tiruchirappalli | |
| Madras | 1-August-1956 | Chennai | |
| Palakkad | 4-August-1956 | Palakkad | previously known as Olavacode |
| Guntakal | 10-October-1956 | Guntakal | Moved toSCRin 1977 andSCoRin 2019 |
| Mysore | 31-October-1956 | Mysuru | Moved toSWRin 2003 |
| Hubli | 31-October-1956 | Hubli | Moved toSCRin 1966 andSWRin 2003 |
| Bangalore | 31-October-1971 | Bangalore | Moved toSWRin 2003 |
| Thiruvananthapuram | 2-October-1979 | Thiruvananthapuram | |
| Salem | 14-November-2001 | Salem |
Operations and infrastructure
[edit]The zone operates both passenger and freight trains. Various classes of passenger trains includingVande Bharat Express,Shatabdi ExpressandTejas Expressare operated by Southern Railways.[11]Freight operations include container traffic from the ports,coalbound to the thermal power stations,oilandpetroleumproducts from refineries,cementand food grains. Most of the lines inside ports, thermal stations, manufacturing industries and owned by the respective companies and the zone provides a link connecting to its network along with the wagons and locomotives. The zone has a larger proportion of passenger traffic compared to freight.[12][13]There are about 727 stations on the Southern railway network.[14]
Locomotives
[edit]
Southern Railway utilizes various classes ofelectricanddiesellocomotives to haul the trains.Steam locomotivesare used by theNilgiri Mountain Railway.[15]The zone has threeelectric locomotivesheds and fourdiesel locomotivesheds.[16]
| Name | Location | Type | Locomotive class | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric Loco Shed, Arakkonam | Arakkonam | Electric | WAP-4,WAG-5,WAG-9 | 171 |
| Electric Loco Shed, Erode | Erode | Electric | WAP-4,WAP-7,WAG-7 | 205 |
| Electric Loco Shed, Royapuram | Chennai | Electric | WAP-7 | 109 |
| Diesel Loco Shed, Ernakulam | Ernakulam | Diesel,Electric | WDM-3A,WDG-3A,WDM-3D,WDG-4,WDG-4D,WAG-5 | 69 |
| Diesel Loco Shed, Erode | Erode | Diesel | WDM-3D,WAP-1,WAP-4,WAG-5,WAG-7 | 132 |
| Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock | Tiruchirappalli | Diesel | WDM-3A,WDG-3A,WDP-3A,WDM-3D,WDP-4,WDG-4,YDM-4,WDS-6,WDM-7 | 148 |
| Diesel Loco Shed, Tondiarpet | Chennai | Diesel | WDM-3A,WDG-3A,WDM-7,WDS-6,WDG-4 | 53 |
| Coonoor Loco Shed, Coonoor | Coonoor | Steam,Diesel | X Class,YDM-4 |
Maintenance and workshops
[edit]Southern Railway maintains wagon and locomotive workshops atPerambur, ChennaiandPonmalai, Tiruchirapalli,engineering workshop atArakkonam,carriage maintenance workshops atBasin BridgeandEgmoreand a signal and telecommunication workshop atPodanur,Coimbatore.It has threeEMUcar sheds in Chennai atAvadi,Tambaram,Velacheryand MEMU sheds atKollam[17]andPalakkad.[18]Southern Railway maintains trip sheds atBasin Bridge,Egmore,TondiarpetandJolarpettai.[16]Southern Railway operated ticket printing presses atRoyapuram,ThiruvananthapuramandTiruchirappalli,but these have been phased out due todigitization.[19][20]
Railway coaches and wagons
[edit]Southern Railways uses bothICF coachesandLHB coachesfor its trains. ICF coaches manufactured by theIntegral Coach FactoryinChennaihave been used predominantly for over sixty years since the formation of the zone in 1951.[21]The ICF coaches are slowly being replaced by newerLHBrakes which provide better passenger comfort and safety.[22][23]
Railway lines
[edit]Following are the list of railway lines operational.[24]
Defunct railway lines includeKundala Valley Railways,[27][28]Kochin Tramways,[29]Madras Tramways,[30]TiruchendurLight Railway,[31]DharmapuriandKrishnagirifamine light railways,[32][33]Kodaikanal Light Railway.[34] [35]
Trains
[edit]Southern Railways operates 41 sets ofexpress trainsand 97 sets ofsuperfasttrains. The superfast trains include:Vande Bharat Express(8),Shatabdi Express(2),Garib Rath Express(2),Duronto Express(1),Jan Shatabdi Express(4),Sampark Kranti Express(1),Anuvrat Express(1),Humsafar Express(1),Tejas Express(1),Uday Express(1),Antyodaya Express(2) andDouble Decker Express(1). Apart from this, it operates variousPassenger trains,DEMU,EMUservices,Chennai Suburbanand the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.[11]
Stations
[edit]There are about 727 stations on the Southern railway network including 486 non suburban stations, 74 suburban stations and 166 halt stations. The major and highest revenue earning stations areChennai Central,Chennai Egmore,Coimbatore Junction,Tambaram,Madurai Junction,Thiruvananthapuram CentralandErnakulam Junction.[14]
Chennai Suburban
[edit]
Chennai Suburban Railway is thecommuter railsystem in the city ofChennai,operated by the Southern Railways. The system operates four lines with a track length of 1,174.21 km (729.62 mi), of which 509.71 km (316.72 mi) are dedicated dual tracks for EMUs.[36][37]
| Line | Start | End | Type | Length | Stations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Line | Chennai Central | Sullurpeta | Suburban | 82 km (51 mi) | 30 |
| South Line | Chennai Beach | Chengalpattu | Suburban | 60 km (37 mi) | 50 |
| West Line | Chennai Beach | Tiruttani | Suburban | 69 km (43 mi) | 57 |
| Chennai MRTS | Chennai Beach | Velachery | MRTS | 19 km (12 mi) | 25 |
Nilgiri Mountain Railway
[edit]
Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a1,000 mm(3 ft3+3⁄8in)metre gaugerailway inNilgiris districtconnectingMettupalayamandUdagamandalam.It was built during theBritish Rajin 1908 and is currently operated by the Southern Railways.[38][39]It is the onlyrack railwayin India and operates on its own fleet ofsteam locomotivesbetweenCoonoorand Udhagamandalam.[40]In July 2005,UNESCOadded the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to theWorld Heritage SiteofMountain Railways of India.[39]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Southern Railway vital statistics"(PDF).Southern Railway.Archived(PDF)from the original on 20 January 2019.Retrieved20 January2019.
- ^"https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sOILAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false".https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sOILAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
{{cite journal}}:External link in|journal=and|title= - ^Understanding Indian Railway Heritage(PDF)(Report).Indian Railways.p. 6.Archived(PDF)from the original on 26 December 2023.Retrieved1 December2023.
- ^"Chennai: The track record".New Indian Express.16 April 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 12 August 2023.Retrieved9 August2023.
- ^"On Forgotten Road".The Times of India.31 March 2013.Archivedfrom the original on 12 August 2023.Retrieved9 August2023.
- ^"Third oldest railway station in country set to turn 156".Indian Railways.Retrieved13 February2013.
- ^The Cambridge Economic History of India.Vol. 2. Orient Longmans Private Limited. 2005. p. 755.ISBN978-8-1250-2731-7.
- ^Evolution of Indian Railways-Historical Background(Report).Indian Railways.Archivedfrom the original on 1 June 2009.Retrieved1 December2023.
- ^abc"Southern Railways, about us".Southern Railway.Archivedfrom the original on 16 September 2023.Retrieved12 August2023.
- ^"Railways to show green signal to a train in Andaman and Nicobar".Indian Express.6 February 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 12 August 2023.Retrieved12 August2023.
- ^ab"Southern Railways".Indiarailinfo.Archivedfrom the original on 12 August 2023.Retrieved12 August2023.
- ^"Southern Railway punctuality and fiscal performance hit".The Times of India.Archivedfrom the original on 15 June 2018.Retrieved24 February2018.
- ^"Southern Railway's financial and operational performance dips".The Times of India.Archivedfrom the original on 28 May 2018.Retrieved24 February2018.
- ^ab"Southern Railway stations"(PDF)(pdf). Indian Railways.Archived(PDF)from the original on 23 December 2023.Retrieved12 August2023.
- ^"Coonoor loco shed opened for tourists".The Hindu.29 September 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 12 August 2023.Retrieved12 August2023.
- ^ab"Sheds and Workshops – Southern Railway".IRFCA.Archivedfrom the original on 4 December 2023.Retrieved1 November2023.
- ^"Three ISO certificates for MEMU maintenance shed".The Hindu.3 September 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 27 September 2023.Retrieved27 September2023.
- ^"Memu rakes yet to reach Kerala".Deccan Chronicle.18 May 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 27 September 2023.Retrieved27 September2023.
- ^"Ticket to the Past".The Hindu.30 August 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 12 August 2023.Retrieved12 August2023.
- ^"Railway board plans to ease out 100 year old printing press".Times of India.5 November 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 12 August 2023.Retrieved12 August2023.
- ^"Is It Time for Indian Railways to Tear Up Ageing Tracks and Old Machinery?".Zee Media Corporation.14 January 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 6 June 2023.Retrieved6 June2023.
- ^Ayyappan, V. (4 January 2021)."Leakage Found in ICF Coaches".The Times of India.Archivedfrom the original on 6 June 2023.Retrieved6 June2023.
- ^Debroy, Bibek (9 February 2018)."A 70-Year-Old Vs a 30-Year-Old: LHB Coaches Perform Better than ICF Ones".Business Standard.Archivedfrom the original on 29 April 2023.Retrieved6 June2023.
- ^Southern Railway Route Map(PDF)(Report).Indian Railways.Archived(PDF)from the original on 12 August 2023.Retrieved12 August2023.
- ^"Electrification of Shoranur-Nilambur rail line completed".The Hindu.Archivedfrom the original on 5 April 2024.Retrieved30 March2024.
- ^"Rail electrification: inspection begins".The Hindu.14 December 2006.Archivedfrom the original on 18 May 2024.Retrieved9 January2017.
- ^"Remains of Kundala Valley Railway, Munnar".IRFCA.Archivedfrom the original on 11 February 2021.Retrieved30 December2020.
- ^Correspondent, A. (22 June 2019)."Monorail may return to Munnar".The Hindu.ISSN0971-751X.Archivedfrom the original on 8 November 2020.Retrieved30 December2020.
{{cite news}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^"Cochin State Forest Tramway".FIBIS.Archivedfrom the original on 29 September 2021.Retrieved30 December2020.
- ^"Madras Tramways – FIBIwiki".FIBIS.Archivedfrom the original on 12 May 2021.Retrieved30 December2020.
- ^"Kulasekharapatnam Tissainvillai Light Railway – FIBIwiki".FIBIS.Archivedfrom the original on 26 June 2021.Retrieved30 December2020.
- ^"Morappur-Dharmapuri-Hosur Railway – FIBIwiki".FIBIS.Archivedfrom the original on 1 October 2021.Retrieved30 December2020.
- ^"Tirupattur-Krishnagiri Railway – FIBIwiki".FIBIS.Archivedfrom the original on 29 September 2021.Retrieved30 December2020.
- ^"South Indian Railway 1909".FIBIS.Archivedfrom the original on 11 January 2021.Retrieved30 December2020.
- ^"[IRFCA] Mysteries of a Defunct Ropeway".FIBIS.Archivedfrom the original on 7 May 2021.Retrieved30 December2020.
- ^Transport in Chennai(PDF)(Report).Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.p. 4.Archived(PDF)from the original on 28 October 2023.Retrieved1 December2023.
- ^Project Brief of Chennai Metro Rail(PDF)(Report).Chennai Metro.Archived(PDF)from the original on 12 July 2017.Retrieved24 May2013.
- ^"Nilgiri Mountain railway".Indianrailway.gov.in.Archivedfrom the original on 6 December 2019.Retrieved21 August2019.
- ^ab"Mountain Railways of India".UNESCO World Heritage Centre.Archivedfrom the original on 3 May 2006.Retrieved30 April2006.
- ^"he Nilgiri Mountain Railway as old as the hills".The Hindu.27 July 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 30 March 2023.Retrieved1 March2023.
External links
[edit]
