Track gauge 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Length 625,000 m Locale Kerala, Tamil Nadu | Electrification 25 kV AC 50 Hz Date of operation 2 October 1979 | |
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Dates of operation October 2, 1979 (1979-10-02)– Headquarters Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India | ||
Thiruvananthapuram railway division (TVC) is one of the six administrative divisions of the Southern Railway Zone of the Indian Railways. It has its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the state of Kerala. It is the southernmost railway division of India and manages 625 km of route track and 108 railway stations in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The major stations of the division are Nagercoil Jn., Thiruvananthapuram Central, Kollam Jn, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam Jn, Ernakulam Town, Aluva and Thrissur.
Contents
History
The Thiruvananthapuram (TVC) division was formed on 2 October 1979 as the 53rd division in the country. TVC was created by joining the existing Shoranur - Thrissur - Ernakulam - Cochin Harbor Terminus section of the Olavakkod (now Palakkad) railway division and the Ernakulam - Kottayam - Kayamkulam - Kollam - Trivandrum - Nagercoil - Kanniyakumari section of the Madurai division. The Trivandrum - Nagercoil - Kanniyakumari section had completed construction only a few months before the formation of TVC and the Nagercoil-Tirunelveli section was undergoing construction. The Ernakulam - Alappuzha - Kayamkulam line and the Thrissur (Punkunnam) - Guruvayur line did not exist then and were later built by the Trivandrum division.
Creation of the Trivandrum division was followed by the formation of Bangalore railway division which was also under the Southern Railway.
Route and Geography Served
The Trivandrum division manages 625 kilometers of route length and 893 km of track length, making it one of the smallest divisions in India. It serves the southern half of Kerala and the southernmost parts of Tamil Nadu in the Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli districts, roughly amounting to areas formerly under the Travancore kingdom. The jurisdiction of the Trivandrum division consists of one major north-south line, in the shape of the mirror image of a 'J', also consisting of a section of two parallel lines for 100 kilometers, two branch lines, and four industrial sidings. The main line runs from Vallathol Nagar just south of Shoranur Junction in central Kerala to Melappalaiyam just before Tirunelveli junction in Tamil Nadu (Tirunelveli district) via Ernakulam - Kottayam/Alappuzha - Kayankulam - Kollam - Trivandrum - Nagercoil / Kanniyakumari.
Jurisdiction of the Trivandrum division starts just after the Bharathapuzha bridge and Vallathol Nagar is the first station in the division. The mainline then continues south, and at Punkunnam just before Thrissur, the Guruvayur branch line joins the main line. Just before Ernakulam Town, at Pachalam railway gate the track to the old Ernakulam Terminus, now disused, branches off to the right. After Ernakulam Town, the line splits into two with the double tracks to Kottayam branching off to the left. After Ernakulam junction, the branch line (earlier main line) to the Cochin Harbor Terminus, now disused, branch off to the right while the main line continues towards Alappuzha as the coastal line. The Kottayam and Alappuzha lines join again at Kayamkulam junction, from where they continue on towards Kollam Junction, where the branch line from Shenkotta managed by the Madurai division joins it. The mainline continues on towards Trivandrum and then towards Nagercoil, where it splits into two, with one branch going towards Kanniyakumari and terminating at the southernmost tip of India while the other continues on towards Tirunelveli via Valliyur. The last station under Trivandrum district's jurisdiction is Melappalayam, 7 km from Tirunelveli and TVC's actual track jurisdiction ends just short of Tirunelveli junction, from where the Madurai division starts.
The division carries over 1.65 lakh passengers daily.
Trivandrum-Nagercoil Section
Nagercoil - Tirunelveli section
Nagercoil - Kanyakumari Section
Terminal facilities
Thiruvananthapuram railway division has the credit of building and maintaining highest number of passenger terminals in any railway division within southern railway. Passenger terminals are operational at Thiruvananthapuram central, Ernakulam, Nagercoil, Alleppey and Kochuveli. New passenger terminals are proposed at Kanyakumari, Nemom and Kottayam.
List of railway stations and towns
The list includes the stations under the Thiruvananthapuram railway division and their station category.
Stations closed for Passengers - Cochin Harbor Terminus (CHTS), Old Ernakulam Goods Terminal (ERG), Mattanchery Halt.
MEMU/suburban trains
A MEMU shed for Kollam was proposed in 2008's Indian Railway Budget. Kollam MEMU CarShed was formally commissioned on 1 December 2013, five years after its completion. Kollam MEMU Shed is the largest MEMU Shed in Kerala, which is equipped with most modern facilities.