Southern Railway zone

Southern Railway (abbreviated SR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Chennai and operates across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Puducherry. It maintains about of railway lines and operates 727 railway stations. With effect from 1 October 2026, the Mangaluru railway area upto Ullal in Karnataka was transferred from Palakkad railway division of Southern railway zone to Mysore railway division of South Western Railway zone as per Railway Board notification dated 21 August 2026.

The origin of the Southern Railway can be traced back to the mid-19th century. In 1835, the first railway track in India was constructed in Madras and became operational in 1837. The Madras Railway was formally established later in 1845. The Southern Railway was created on 14 April 1950 by merging three state railways, namely, the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway Company, and the Mysore State Railway and became the first railway zone of the Indian Railways.

History

The history of the Southern Railway can be traced back to the Madras Railway. In 1832, the proposal to construct the first railway line in India at Madras was made by the British. In 1835, the railway track was constructed between Little Mount and Chintadripet in Madras and became operational in 1837. The Madras Railway was established later in 1845 and the construction on the first main line between Madras and Arcot started in 1853, which became operational in 1856. In 1908, Madras Railway merged with Southern Mahratta Railway to form the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway.

In 1944, all the railway companies operating in British India were taken over by the Government. Post Independence, 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 1950 by merging three state railways, namely, the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway Company, and the Mysore State Railway.

Organisation

Southern Railway zone covers the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and a small portion of Andhra Pradesh. Andaman and Nicobar will form part of the zone once the proposed new railway line between Port Blair and Diglipur becomes operational.

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 namely Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Palakkad, Salem and Thiruvananthapuram.

Name of Division Established Headquarters Comments Vijayawada 6-May-1956 Vijayawada Moved to SCR in 1966 and later to SCoR in 2026 Madurai 6-May-1956 Madurai Tiruchirappalli 6-May-1956 Tiruchirappalli Podanur14-April-1951PodanurClosed in the year 1956 and the Headquarters shifted to Olavacode (Palakkad). Madras 1-August-1956 Chennai Palakkad 4-August-1956 Palakkad previously known as Olavacode (former name of palakkad). Formed from Podanur division. Guntakal 10-October-1956 Guntakal Moved to SCR in 1977 and later to SCoR in 2026 Mysore 31-October-1956 Mysuru Moved to SWR in 2003 Hubli 31-October-1956 Hubballi Moved to SCR in 1966 and later to SWR in 2003 Bangalore 31-October-1971 Bengaluru Moved to SWR in 2003 Thiruvananthapuram 2-October-1979 Thiruvananthapuram Formed from Madurai division. Salem 14-November-2001 Salem Formed from Palakkad division.

Operations and infrastructure The zone operates both passenger and freight trains. Various classes of passenger trains including Vande Bharat Express, Amrit Bharat Express, Shatabdi Express, Antyodaya Express, Double Decker Express and Tejas Express are operated by Southern Railways. Freight operations include container traffic from the ports, coal bound to the thermal power stations, oil and petroleum products from refineries, cement and 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. There are about 727 stations on the Southern railway network.

Locomotives

Southern Railway utilizes various classes of electric and diesel locomotives to haul the trains. Steam locomotives are used by the Nilgiri Mountain Railway. The zone has three electric locomotive sheds and four diesel locomotive sheds. Name Location Type Locomotive classCount Electric Loco Shed, Arakkonam Arakkonam Electric WAP-4, WAG-5, WAG-9 224 Electric Loco Shed, Erode Erode Electric WAP-4, WAP-7, WAG-7 223 Electric Loco Shed, Royapuram Chennai Electric WAP-5, WAP-7 130 Diesel Loco Shed, Ernakulam Ernakulam Diesel/Electric WDM-3A, WDG-3A, WDM-3D, WDG-4, WDG-4D, WAG-5 57 Diesel Loco Shed, Erode Erode Electric WAP-1, WAP-4, WAG-5, WAG-7 169 Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock Tiruchirappalli Diesel WDG-3A, WDM-3D, WDP-4B/4D, WDG-4/4D, YDM-4, WDS-6, WDM-7 152 Diesel Loco Shed, Tondiarpet Chennai Diesel WDM-3A, WDG-3A, WDS-6, WDG-4, WDG-4D 55 Coonoor Loco Shed, Coonoor Coonoor Steam, Diesel X Class, YDM-4

Maintenance and workshops Southern Railway maintains wagon and locomotive workshops at Perambur, Chennai and Ponmalai, Tiruchirapalli, engineering workshop at Arakkonam, carriage maintenance workshops at Basin Bridge and Egmore and a signal and telecommunication workshop at Podanur, Coimbatore. It has three EMU car sheds in Chennai at Avadi, Tambaram, Velachery and MEMU sheds at Kollam and Palakkad. Southern Railway maintains trip sheds at Basin Bridge, Egmore, Tondiarpet and Jolarpettai. Southern Railway operated ticket printing presses at Royapuram, Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchirappalli, but these have been phased out due to digitization.

Railway coaches and wagons Southern Railways uses both ICF coaches and LHB coaches for its trains. ICF coaches manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai have been used predominantly for over sixty years since the formation of the zone in 1951. The ICF coaches are slowly being replaced by newer LHB rakes which provide better passenger comfort and safety.

Railway lines Following are the list of railway lines operational.

Line Start End Type Gauge Electrified No. of Lines Speed limit Length Major stations Chennai Central-Jolarpettai Chennai Central Jolarpettai Main Broad Yes 2 (4 till Arakkonam) Arakkonam Chennai Central-Renigunta Chennai Central Renigunta Main Broad Yes 2 (4 till Arakkonam) Arakkonam Chennai Central-Gudur Chennai Central Gudur Main Broad Yes 2 Sullurupeta Jolarpettai–Shoranur Jolarpettai Shoranur Main Broad Yes 2 Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, Coimbatore North, Podanur, Palakkad Shoranur-Mangalore (excl) railway line Shoranur Mangalore Main Broad Yes 2 Kannur, Kozhikode Shoranur-Ernakulam line Shoranur Cochin Harbour Terminus Main Broad Yes 2 Thrissur, Aluva, Ernakulam Junction, Ernakulam Town Chennai Egmore-Thoothukudi Chennai Egmore Thoothukudi Main Broad Yes 2 (4 till Chengalpattu) Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Virudhachalam, Tiruchirappalli, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Vanchi Tiruchirappalli-Thanjavur Tiruchirappalli Thanjavur Branch Broad Yes 2 Tiruchirappalli-Erode Tiruchirappalli Erode Branch Broad Yes 1 Karur Salem-Dindigul Salem Dindigul Branch Broad Yes 1 Karur Madurai-Rameswaram Madurai Rameswaram Branch Broad Yes 1 Manamadurai Tiruchirappalli-Sengottai Tiruchirappalli Sengottai Branch Broad Yes 1 Karaikudi, Manamadurai, Virudhunagar Vanchi Maniyachchi-Tirunelveli Vanchi Maniyachchi Tirunelveli Branch Broad Yes 2 Tiruchirappalli-Thanjavur Tiruchirappalli Thanjavur Branch Broad Yes 2 Coimbatore North-Mettupalayam Coimbatore North Mettupalayam Branch Broad Yes 1 Nilgiri Mountain Railway Mettupalayam Udhagamandalam Branch Metre No 1 Coonoor Thrissur-Guruvayur line Thrissur Guruvayur Branch Broad Yes 1 Shoranur -Nilambur line Shoranur Nilambur Road Branch Broad Yes 1 Ernakulam–Kayamkulam coastal line Ernakulam Kayamkulam Branch Broad Yes 1 Alappuzha Ernakulam–Kottayam–Kayamkulam line Ernakulam Kayamkulam Branch Broad Yes 2 156 km (97 mi) Kottayam, Chengannur Kollam-Sengottai line Kollam Sengottai Branch Broad Yes 1 Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram line Kollam Thiruvanathapuram Central Main Broad Yes 2 Kochuveli Thiruvananthapuram–Nagercoil–Kanyakumari line Thiruvanathapuram Central Kanniyakumari Branch Broad Yes 1 Nagercoil Nagercoil - Tirunelveli Nagercoil Tirunelveli Main Broad Yes 2 Tenkasi-Tiruchendur Tenkasi Tiruchendur Branch Broad Yes 1 Tenkasi-Sengottai Tenkasi Sengottai Branch Broad Yes 1 Irugur-Podanur Irugur Podanur Branch Broad Yes 1 Dindigul-Pollachi Dindigul Pollachi Branch Broad Yes 1 Palani Podanur-Pollachi Podanur Pollachi Branch Broad Yes 1 Palakkad–Pollachi line Palakkad Pollachi Branch Broad Yes 1 Salem-Mettur Dam Salem Mettur Dam Branch Broad Yes 2 Salem-Virudhachalam Salem Virudhachalam Branch Broad Yes 1 Cuddalore-Thanjavur Cuddalore Thanjavur Branch Broad Yes 1 Mayiladuthurai Cuddalore-Virudhachalam Cuddalore Virudhachalam Branch Broad Yes 1 Villupuram-Puducherry Villupuram Puducherry Branch Broad Yes 1 Villupuram-Katpadi Villupuram Katpadi Branch Broad Yes 1 Tiruvannamalai Thanjavur-Karaikal Thanjavur Karaikal Branch Broad Yes 1 Nagapattinam Mayiladuthurai-Thiruvarur Mayiladuthurai Thiruvarur Branch Broad Yes 1 Arakkonam-Chengalpattu Arakkonam Chengalpattu Branch Broad Yes 1 Nagapattinam-Velankanni Nagapattinam Velankanni Branch Broad Yes 1 Madurai-Bodinayakkanur Madurai Bodinayakkanur Branch Broad Yes 1 Thiruvarur-Tiruturaipundi Thiruvarur Tiruturaipundi Branch Broad No 1 Karaikkudi-Tiruturaipundi Karaikkudi Tiruturaipundi Branch Broad No 1 Tiruturaipundi-Agastiyampalli Tiruturaipundi Agastiyampalli Branch Broad No 1

Defunct railway lines include Kundala Valley Railways, Kochin Tramways, Madras Tramways, Tiruchendur Light Railway, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri famine light railways, Kodaikanal Light Railway.

Trains Southern Railways operates 41 sets of express trains and 97 sets of superfast trains. The superfast trains include: Vande Bharat Express (10), 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) and Double Decker Express (1). Apart from this, it operates various Passenger trains, DEMU, EMU services, Chennai Suburban and the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.

Stations

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 are Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Coimbatore Junction, Tambaram, Madurai Junction, Thiruvananthapuram Central and Ernakulam Junction.

Chennai Suburban

Chennai Suburban Railway is the commuter rail system in the city of Chennai, operated by the Southern Railways. The system operates four lines with a track length of , of which are dedicated dual tracks for EMUs. earlier Trams are also operated in Chennai by Madras Electric Tramways.

Line Start End Type Length Stations North Line Chennai Central Suburban Sullurpeta via Gumidipoondi Suburban 30 South West Line Chennai Beach Arakkonam via Mambalam, St. Thomas Mount,Chengalpattu Suburban 50 West Line Chennai Beach or Chennai Central Suburban Tiruttani via Thiruvallur,Arakkonam Suburban 57 Chennai MRTS Chennai Beach St. Thomas Mount via Velacherry MRTS 25

Nilgiri Mountain Railway