Madurai railway division

Madurai railway division
	Front view of Madurai Junction
Overview
Headquarters	Madurai
Locale	Tamil Nadu, India
Dates of operation	1956; 68 years ago–
Predecessor	Southern Railways
Technical
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Previous gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
Length	1,356 km (843 mi)
Other
Website	Madurai railway division

Madurai railway division is a railway division belonging to the

Southern Railways (SR), India. Officially created in 1956, it spans over 1,356 km (843 mi) making it the largest railway division of the Southern Railways.^[1] Prior to the formation of the Thiruvananthapuram railway division 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 and 1 in Kerala. Its headquarters is in Madurai.^[2]

And major revenue generating junctions in madurai division Are Madurai,Tirunelveli, dindigul.in these stations most of the train halt and rake reversals takes place and also passenger foot fall is high.

History

Origins

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

Thoothukudi was completed. In the same year, another line branching off from Vanchi Maniyachchi to Tirunelveli was opened.^[1]

Only in the next century, most of the other present lines were completed. Among them were:[1]

Madurai-Mandapam line in 1902
Tirunelveli-Kallidaikurichi line in 1902
Manamadura-Sivaganga 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-Sivaganga 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.

Kollam-Sengottai-Tirunelveli line, Rameswaram-Manamadurai-Madurai line, Manamadurai-Karaikudi-Tiruchirappalli line, Madurai-Dindigul-Pollachi line, Karaikudi-Thiruduraipoondi-Thiruvarur line and the Madurai-Bodinayakkanur line. All lines currently in use have been converted to Broad Gauge

.

In 1979, certain sections of the railway division were carved out to form the

Tirunelveli District would be transferred back to Madurai Division. The Tirunelveli-Madurai line was converted into BG line on 8-4-1981.^[5]

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:

Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Theni, Tiruppur, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Virudhunagar districts. In Kerala, the division covers the district of Kollam till Kilikollur railway station.^[6]

Categorisation of stations

The list includes the stations under the Madurai railway division and their station category.[7]^[8]^[9]

Category of station	No. of stations	Names of stations
NSG-1 Category	0
NSG-2 Category	1	Madurai Junction
NSG-3 Category	4	Tirunelveli Junction, Tuticorin, Rameswaram, Dindigul Junction
NSG-4 Category	7	Karaikudi Junction, Kovilpatti, Ramanathapuram ,etc.
NSG-5 Category	21	Manamadurai Junction, Rajapalayam, Pudukkottai, Sivakasi, Sivaganga, etc.
NSG-6 Category	81	Aruppukkottai,etc.
HG - 1 Category	-	-
HG - 2 Category	11	-
HG - 3 Category	10	-
Total	135	-

Stations closed for passengers - Nataransankottai, Nedugulam, Manamadurai East, Kulathur, Thondaimanallur and some stations.

List of stations and its MSG categories in Madurai division for 2023 ^[10]

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.^[11]

Operations and services

Regular trains

No of Trains run	Daily	Non-Daily
Express	25	34
Passenger	56	0

Special trains

2011-12	2012-13	2013-14 (Up to October)
1965	1848	700

Stations

Passenger Halts	No. of stations
Block stations	101
Flag stations	20
Halt stations	16

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Southern Railways - Madurai railway division" (PDF). Southern Railways, India. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
^ Southern Railways - Madurai railway division
^ https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/56057/1/lsd_01_14_23-11-1956.pdf page 3
^ "Southern Railways - Thiruvananthapuram railway division". Southern Railways, India. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Madurai Division System Map" (PDF). Southern Railway. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
^ "Statement showing Category-wise No.of stations in IR based on Pass. earning of 2011" (PDF). Retrieved 15 January 2016.
^ "PASSENGER AMENITIES - CRITERIA= For Categorisation Of Stations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
^ "Annual originating passengers and earnings for the year 2018-19 - Madurai Division". Indian Railways. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
^ https://sr.indianrailways.gov.in/cris//uploads/files/1686913420595-MDU%20DIVISION%20-%20LIST%20OF%20STATIONS%20-2023.pdf
^ "Madurai division records growth in overall earnings". Times of India. Retrieved 10 June 2014.

External links