Kanniyakumari District Railway Explained

History

The Madras government of the South Indian Railway wanted to extend their rail links into Travancore (Thiruvithamkoor) for commercial interests of both the states, during 1873. The Chief Engineer of Travancore, Mr. Barton, suggested a proposal to link Travancore by a railway line drawn from Kovilpatti of Madras state to Trivandrum (since renamed Thiruvananthapuram) through Shencottah in the Chittar mountain area, and from Trivandrum to Quilon (since renamed Kollam), the commercial centre of Kerala. Although the "South Indian Railway Company were inclined to make a survey of the southern route via the Aramboly pass to Trivandrum, --- the balance of opinion was in favour of the Northern route,[so] they obtained permission to survey that as well" The Dewan of Travancore Mr. Ramiengar "suggested that a line from Kovilpatti to Quilon through Shencottah would be the one most advantageous."About the close of 1881 the Consulting Engineer for Railways ordered a trial survey of the line from Tirunelveli to Trvandrum via Shenkottai, Aryankavu and Quilon. Immediately the Chief Engineer of S.I.R took up the survey of, both the Southern and Northern routes to Trivandrum. In 1882, he submitted the report wherein he discussed the merits and demerits of both the routes. He held that the southern route would be cheaper and more beneficial than the northern one. But Dewan Ramiengar was strongly in favour of the northern route which would better promote its commercial interests of the country since Trivandrum was no more important commercially than Quilon. So the northern route was approved by the S.I.R. authorities and work started to link Tirunelveli Quilon via Tenkasi, Shencottah and Aryankavu.^[1] In 1913, the Secretary of State for India sanctioned the extension of railway line from Quilon to Trivandrum beach (present Pettai Station) and it was opened for traffic on 1 January 1918. In 1926 the extension of this line from Trivandrum Beach to the heart of the city, that is Thampanoor (the present-day Thiruvananthapuram Central), was completed in 1931. Hence the rail link ended at Trivandrum. At that point, when the work of extension of the railway line from Quilon to Trivandrum was taken up, there was no proposal or plan to extend it to Nagercoil.

Travancore Government objected

In the year 1925 a survey was undertaken between Palamcottah and Punnagudi and the Travancore Government objected to taking it up to Nagercoil. and this survey disclosed that the line would cost Rs. 22 lakhs.^[2]

Section	Date of Opening	Length in miles	Owner/section
Tirunelveli-Kallidaikurichi	1 June 1902	19.13	British Section
Kallidaikurichi-Near Shengottah	1 August 1903	31.28	British Section
Quilon-Punalur	1 June 1904	28.28	Travancore Section
Punalur-Near Shengottah	26 November 1904	29.77	Travancore Section
Quilon-Trivandrum	1 January 1918	37-91	Travancore Section

Nobody requested or represented to the Maharaja or Dewan in this respect. But in 1928 a request was made to extend the rail link up to Nageroil. The very first man from South Travancore who made a claim at the Sree Moolam popular Assembly (headed by the Dewan of Travancore) to extend the Railway line up to Nagercoil was a Tamilian by name Mr. D. Francis of Ramanpudur on 1 March 1928 who was nominated as a member to the Sree Moolam popular Assembly by the Maharaja himself. The then Dewan Mr. Rajagopala Chariyar replied negatively, expressing the state’s inability to comply with his request, Once again, the Tamil people of South Travancore were refused their request. After Mr. D.Francis, nobody raised this issue either at Sree Moolam Popular Assembly or at Chithira Popular Assembly for a rail link in to the Tamil area of Travancore, till Mr. Nesamony, the father of Kanyakumari District raised this issue at the Indian parliament, on 8 March 1965, wherein he requested extension of the railway line from Tirunelveli to Kanyakumari and then to Trivandrum Via Nagercoil. This was accepted by the Govt. of India in principle but he could not see it implemented during his lifetime as he expired on 1 June 1968.

The foundation stone for Kanyakumari Railway station was laid on 6 April 1972 by the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, while Sri.K.Kamaraj was the sitting Member of Parliament. He was not even invited for the foundation stone laying function as he had split with Indira Gandhi in 1969 and formed the INC(O).He had also won the Kanyakumari parliament constituency following the death of Nesamony defeating the challenges posed by the congress faction led by Indira Gandhi. As the function was performed at his constituency he made it a point to participate like an ordinary public man and he was made to sit at the first row provided for the public. On seeing him made to sit in such a neglected position Mrs. Gandhi was shocked and invited him to the dais, where he was then honoured suitably. Thus a Tamil people’s leader was ill-treated by the officers, even before the Prime Minister of India by the Railway officers. After a lapse of seven years the Railway line and the Kanyakumari railway station was inaugurated on 15 April 1979 by the then Prime Minister Mr. Morarji Desai.

Project in Parliament

• 11-12-1952 Shri Abdul Razak ^[2]
• 21-02-1953 Shri Abdul Razak ^[3]
• 03-03-1953 Shri Tangmani ^[4]
• 23-09-1958 Shri P. Thanulinga Nadar ^[5]

Route

• 1979 Trivandrum-Nagercoil-71.05 km opened on 16 April 1979^[6]
• 1979 Nagercoil -Kanniyakumari-15.51 km opened on 16 April 1979^[6]
• 1979 Trivandrum division of SR created on 2 October 1979^[6]
• 1981 Nagercoil-Tirunelveli-73.29 km opened on 2 April 1981^[6]
• 1986 Tirunelveli- Milavittan (Tuticorin) parallel new BG line51 km opened May 1986
• 1988 July 8 Bangalore-Trivandrum Island Express derails and plunges into Ashtamudi lake near Kollam, Kerala, killing 107. It is said that a freak tornado was the cause.^[6]
• 1993 Dindigul-Madurai Parallel B.G-64.32 km OPENED ON 14 April 1993^[6]
• 1993 Madurai-Virudunagar BG 40 km opened in June 1993
• 1993 Virudunagar-Maniyachchi  27 km opened on 21 October 1993
• 1993 Milavittan-Tuticorin -7.00 km opened on 21 October 1993^[6]
• 1995 May 14: 52 killed as Madras-Kanyakumari Exp. collides with goods train near Salem.
• 1999 Tiruchchirappalli-dindigul-93.00 km opened on 6 January 1999^[6]
• 2009 Dindigul-Madurai 65.35 km second BG line (earlier MG alignment) opened for traffic on 31 July 2009
• 2012 Trivandrum-Nagercoil-Kanyakumari electrified line opened for passenger traffic.
• 2013 Nagercoil Tirunelveli electrified line commissioned (with goods traffic)

Transfer Division

The Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil-Kanyakumari railway line was opened on 15 April 1979, and was then under Madurai Division. Trivandrum division was formed on second October 1979 carving out certain sections from Madurai division. The Meter Gauge sections of Madurai division were retained, while all the newly laid Broad Gauge Sections of Madurai Division were transferred to Trivandrum Division. Thus, the Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil-Kanyakumari BG line, and the under-construction Tirunelveli-Nagercoil BG line were transferred to Trivandrum Division. It was then mentioned that when the Nagercoil-Tirunelveli line is completed, the sections falling under Kanyakumari district and Thirunelveli District would be transferred back to Madurai Division. The Nagercoil-Tirunelveli line was converted into BG line on 8 April 1981 and ever since people from South Tamil Nadu have been demanding the merger of Kanyakumari BG line with Madurai Division.

Terminal Development

Doubling

• Kanniyakumari - Trivandrum=87 K.M
• First Survey = 2005–06
• First Survey ROR =0.77%
• Survey cost =526 core
• Second Survey = 2013–14
• Second Survey ROR=7.03%
• Survey cost = 617 core
• Announce Year = 2015–16
• NITI Aayog Approval = 26-04-2017
• Cabinet Approval= 02-08-2017
• Foundation stone = 23-01-2018
• Execution of the project = Southern Railway, Construction wing
• Project Cost=1431.90 core
• Nagercoil - Vanchi Maniyachi = 102 K.M
• Madurai - Vanchi Maniyachi - Tuticorin = 160 km
• Survey = 2012–13
• Survey ROR = 8.095%
• Survey cost = 1926 core
• Survey Completed = 31-01-2014
• Announce Year = 2015–16
• NITI Aayog Approval = 26-04-2017
• Cabinet Approval= 02-08-2017
• Foundation stone = 23-01-2018
• Execution of the project = RVNL

Electrification

• Thiruvananthapuram-KanniyaKumari = 2007–08
• Tiruchirapalli-Madurai = 2007–08
• Erode-Ernakulam = 2000–01
• Ernakulam - Trivandrum = 2001–02

New Railway line

Trains

Kumari Ananthan

• 1979 Nagercoil - Trivandrum daily passenger
• 1979 Nagercoil - Trivandrum daily passenger
• 1981 Nagercoil - Tirunelveli daily passenger

N. Dennis

• 1984 Trivandrum -Mumbai C.S.T Express extended to Kanniyakumari Daily
• 1985 Quilon - Nagercoil passenger train to Madurai
• 1988 Kanniyakumari- Jammu Tawi Himsagar (Wkly) 6317/6318
• 1988 Initially Island Express was running from Bangalore-to Cochin.- Subsequently, extended to Thiruvananthapuram. This train was extended- to Nagercoil from 1 November 1988 and to Kanniyakumari from 1 July 1992.
• 1992 Bangalore - Nagercoil Island Express to Kanyakumari
• 1992 Extension of Gandhidham - Trivandrum weekly express to Nagercoil
• 21.10.1993 Madras Central - Kanyakumari Exp ^[7]
• 1994 Nagercoil - Guruvayur Exp [The now Chennai-Guruvayur express 6127/6128]
• 1995 Nagercoil - Bombay Exp (weekly) 6340/39
• 1996 Nagercoil-Mumbai CST Express from weekly to tri-weekly.^[8]
• 1998 Mumbai-Nagercoil Express 6339/6340 from 3 days to 4 days a week^[9]
• 1998 Nagercoil-Gandhidham Express (weekly)6335/6336 diverted via the Konkan Railway^[9]

Pon Radhakrishnan

• 1999 Nagercoil - Madurai daily passenger extend upto Coimbatore
• 2000 Tirupati-Nagercoil Express (Bi-weekly)^[10] [Later operated as Nagercoil-Tirupati-Mumbai biweekly express]
• 2000 Howrah-Trichy Express extended to Kanniyakumari (on one day in a week)^[10]
• 2001 Howrah-Trivandrum-Nagercoil Gurudev Weekly express^[11] [Now operating as Shalimar-Nagercoil Gurudev express]
• 14 October 2002 H. Nizamuddin - Kanyakumari Exp Tirukkural weekly via Villupuram^[12]
• 2002 Chennai - Trivandrum Exp 6123/6124 Ananthapuri (via Nagercoil) 6 days^[12]

A. V. Bellarmin

• 2004 Nagercoil - Chennai Central weekly^[13]
• 2005 ChennaiEgmore – Trivandrum Ananthapuri Express from 6 days a week to daily^[14]
• 9 November 2006^[15] Chennai Egmore-Nagercoil weekly Express^[16]
• 1 February 2008^[17] Coimbatore-Nagercoil Express via Madurai (2007) (Daily)
• 2007 Kottayam-Thiruvananthapuram Passenger extended up to Nagercoil

Helen Davidson

• 22 December 2010(2009)^[18] Bilaspur – Tirunelveli Jn. Weekly Superfast^[19]
• 30 March 2010(2009)^[20] Hapa – Tirunelveli Jn. Superfast (Bi-weekly) via Thiruvananthapuram (2010)^[19]
• 22-12-20102009)^[18] Kanyakumari – Rameshwaram Express (Tri-weekly) via Madurai (2009)^[21]
• 4 January 2010(2010)^[22] Mangalore – Kochuveli Ernad 6605/6606 (Tri-weekly) express to Nagercoil
• 19 December 2010(2010)^[23] Mangalore- Nagercoil Ernad Express 6605/6606from 3 days to daily^[21]
• 22 December 2011(2011)^[24] Nagercoil - Bangalore Express (Weekly) via Madurai-Dharmapuri-Hosur (2010)
• 19 November 2011(2011)^[25] Dibrugarh- Thiruvananthapuram-Kanniyakumari Express (weekly) via Kokrajhar^[26]
• 1 December 2012(2011)^[27] Kollam - Nagercoil MEMU Service^[27]
• 16 July 2012(2012)^[28] Trivandrum - Mangalore Parasuram Express to Nagercoil^[29]
• 12 April 2013(2012)^[30] Kanyakumari - Nizamuddin Weekly to biweekly^[29]
• 16 July 2013(2013) Kanyakumari - Puduchery Weekly (2013)^[31]
• 10 February 2014(2013) Nagercoil - Bangalore Daily Via. Madurai^{[31] [32]}
• 28 July 2013(2013) Kollam - Nagercoil Memu train to Kanyakumari^[31]
• 7 September 2013(2013) Nagercoil - Kanyakumari passenger train 6 days to 7^[31] days^[31]
• 7 September 2013(2013) Kanyakumari - Tirunelveli passenger train 6 days to 7 days^[31]
• 20 May 2014(2014) Nagercoil – Kacheguda 16353/16354 weekly express
• 1 September 2014(2014) Kanyakumari-Punalur passenger

Pon Radhakrishnan

• 15 July 2017 Tirunelveli - Tiruchirappalli SF InterCity Express extension up to Thiruvananthapuram^[33]
• 5 July 2018, 19423/19424 Tirunelveli - Gandhidham Humsafar weekly Express^[34]
• 5 March 2019 16191/16192 Tambaram – Tirunelveli – Tambaram Antyodaya Express to Nagercoil^[35]
• 8 March 2019 22657/22658 Tambaram – Nagercoil Tri weekly express^[36]

Vijay Vasanth

• 17 December 2023 16367/16368 Kanyakumari - Banaras Kasi Tamil Sangam Weekly Express.^[37]

Nearby railway stations

Station name	Station code	Category
	NCJ	A
Nagercoil Town	NJT	F
	CAPE	A
	KZT	B
	ERL	D
Aralvaymozhi	AAY	E
Palliyadi	PYD	F
Kulitthurai West	KZTW	F
	VRLR	F
Suchindram	SUCH	F
Vallioor
THX	F

See also

• Thiruvananthapuram Railway division
• Southern Railway Zone

External links

• Satellite Map of Eraniel Railway Station
• Eraniel Railway Station details

Notes and References

1. Summary – Travancore State Manual by Nagam Aiya –Vol. III – Pages 233 & 234
2. https://rsdebate.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/590231/2/IQ_02_11121952_S204_p1422_p1423.pdf
3. https://rsdebate.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/589898/1/PD_03_21021953_8_p849_p876_3.pdf
4. https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1650/1/lsd_02_07_03-03-1959.pdf page 79
5. https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1025036/1/02_V_23-09-1958_p17_p18_s1495.pdf#search=23-9-1958
6. http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-history5.html [IRFCA&#93; Indian Railways FAQ: IR History: Part 5<!-- Bot generated title -->]
7. https://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lsdeb/ls12/ses4/19080399.htm
8. http://www.ieo.org/rail002.html INDIAN RAILWAY BUDGET 1996-97 - ONLINE COVERAGE
9. http://pib.nic.in/focus/foyr98/fo0598/rbudget982.html Highlight -I of Railway Budget 1998-99
10. http://pib.nic.in/archieve/railbud2000/rlybgth1.html Railway Budget 2000-01
11. http://pib.nic.in/archive/railbudget/railbgt2001_2002/sp1.htm PIB
12. http://pib.nic.in/archive/railbudget/railbgt2002-03/railbgtsp1.html Railway Budget 2002-2003
13. Web site: Archived copy . 24 November 2014 . 9 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140509090339/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/nic/railbudget2004-05.pdf . dead .
14. Web site: Archived copy . 24 November 2014 . 21 August 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080821045114/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/nic/railbudget2005-06.pdf . dead .
15. https://web.archive.org/web/20071205210801/http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/02/stories/2006110214030500.htm The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : New weekly service to Nagercoil
16. Web site: Welcome to Indian Railway Passenger Reservation Enquiry.
17. https://web.archive.org/web/20080205092520/http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/01/stories/2008020153680500.htm The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Coimbatore-Nagercoil train service inauguration today
18. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/karunanidhi-to-flag-off-chennaimangalore-train-tomorrow/article68027.ece Karunanidhi to flag off Chennai-Mangalore Train tomorrow - The Hindu
19. Web site: Archived copy . 24 November 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140324032019/http://www.cccindia.co/corecentre/Database/Docs/DocFiles/rlybudget.pdf . 24 March 2014 . dead .
20. https://web.archive.org/web/20100406042937/http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/31/stories/2010033153090500.htm The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Tirunelveli News : Tirunelveli–Hapa Express flagged off
21. Web site: Archived copy . 24 November 2014 . 14 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140114212713/http://www.hindu.com/nic/railbudget2010.pdf . dead .
22. https://web.archive.org/web/20100107104920/http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/04/stories/2010010458800300.htm The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Train’s extended run set to begin
23. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/ernad-express-begins-daily-run/article964580.ece Ernad Express begins daily run - The Hindu
24. https://web.archive.org/web/20110205074455/http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/22/stories/2011012254310600.htm The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Madurai News : New train service from Nagercoil
25. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/for-a-few-hundred-rupees-a-journey-from-one-end-of-india-to-another/article2642938.ece For a few hundred rupees, a journey from one end of India to another - The Hindu
26. http://www.trivandrum.co.in/2011/10/longest-train-route-in-india-dibrugarh.html The Longest Train Route in India: Dibrugarh - Trivandrum - Kanyakumari Vivek Express starts service this month Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram Kerala News, Events, Jobs, Map, Ho...
27. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/kollamnagercoil-memu-service-flagged-off/article4155785.ece Kollam-Nagercoil MEMU service flagged off - The Hindu
28. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/states/parasuram-express-extended-to-nagercoil-junction/article3630755.ece Parasuram Express extended to Nagercoil Junction | Business Line
29. Web site: Welcome to Indian Railway Passenger Reservation Enquiry.
30. http://sr.indianrailways.gov.in/view_detail.jsp?lang=0&id=0,4,268&dcd=1291&did=1365166321147F9B6082B3D9B2C21B1643CAF852D6B14.web91 Southern Railway Welcomes You
31. Web site: Archived copy . 2013-06-24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130717075408/http://www.indianrail.gov.in/English_Speech_2013-14.pdf . 17 July 2013 .
32. https://web.archive.org/web/20140103233637/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-18/madurai/37814204_1_rail-users-nagercoil-new-train Nagercoil - Bangalore new train to run via Karur, rail users happy - The Times of India
33. News: Daily train to capital from Tiruchi. The Hindu. 12 March 2017.
34. News: Gandhidham-Tirunelveli Humsafar Express via Mangaluru from July 5 | Mangaluru News - Times of India. . 4 July 2018 .
35. News: Antyodaya Express extended to Nagercoil. The Hindu. 4 March 2019.
36. News: Tri-weekly express trains for Chennai flagged off from Nagercoil | Madurai News - Times of India. . 9 March 2019 .
37. News: Modi flags off Kashi Tamil Sangamam Express . The Times of India . 18 December 2023 .