Madurai–Tirunelveli line

Indian railway line

Tirunelveli
Madurai

Connecting lines

Madurai Jn – Virudhunagar Jn
Madurai Jn – Manamadurai Jn
Bodinayakkanur – Madurai Jn
Dindigul Jn – Madurai Jn

Stations18WebsiteSouthern RailwayServiceTypeRegional LineOperator(s)Madurai DivisionRolling stockWAP1, WAP4, WAP7, WDP-3, WDP4D, WDG4, WDG3, WAG9HistoryOpened1 January 1876TechnicalTrack length157.1 km (97.6 mi)Number of tracks1Track gauge1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)ElectrificationOverhead catenaryOperating speed100 km/h (62 mph)SignallingThree-aspect Colour-Light signalling (3CL)

Route map

Legend

				km
					to Dindigul Junction
				0	Madurai Junction
					to Bodinayakkanur

					to Manamadurai Junction
				7	Tirupparankundram
				18	Tirumangalam
				32	Kalligudi
					to Manamadurai Junction

				43	Virudhunagar Junction
					to Tenkasi Junction
				56	Tulukapati
				71	Satur
				92	Kovilpatti
				114	Kadambur
				128	Vanchi Maniyachchi Junction
					to Tuticorin
				135	Naraikkinar
				143	Gangaikondan
				150	Talaiyuthu
				157	Tirunelveli Junction
					to Tenkasi Junction
					to Tiruchendur
					to Nagercoil Junction

The Madurai–Virudhunagar–Tirunelveli Line is a railway line connecting the cities of Madurai, Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The line was inaugurated on 1 January 1876.^[1] This railway is under control of Southern Railways. It covers 157.1 km. The line covers the districts of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Viruthunagar and Madurai. The speed limit for most of this rail is 100 km/h.

History

Initially, this line was inaugurated on 1 January 1876 as Maniyachchi Junction - Tirunelveli in metre-gauge.^[2] The conversion from meter gauge to broad gauge completed on 4 August 1981. The gauge conversion process was performed by retaining the old meter-gauge line and constructing the new line on the other side to avoid extended cancellation of service.

The electrification process for the line started in January 2010 and it has been fully electrified since January 3, 2015.

The doubling process of the Madurai to Tirunelveli line was started in January 2018 and was completed in March 2023.

Stations

There are a total of 18 stations in the route, some of the most important being Madurai Junction,Virudhunagar Junction, Sattur, Kovilpatti, and Tirunelveli Junction.^[3]


S.No	Station	Station Code	Old Category	New Category
1	Madurai Jn	MDU	A1	NSG2
2	Tirupparankundram	TDN	D	NSG5
3	Tirumangalam	TMQ	D	NSG5
4	Kalligudi	KGD	E	NSG6
5	Virudunagar Jn	VPT	A	NSG4
6	Tulukapati	TY	E	NSG6
7	Satur	SRT	B	NSG5
8	Kovilpatti	CVP	A	NSG4
9	Kadambur	KDU	E	NSG6
10	Vanchi Maniyachchi Jn	MEJ	D	NSG5
11	Naraikkinar	NRK	E	NSG6
12	Gangaikondan	GDN	E	NSG6
13	Talaiyuthu	TAY	E	NSG6
14	Tirunelveli Jn	TEN	A	NSG3

References

^ Arockiaraj, J. (4 January 2015). "Electric trains go beyond Madurai; to cut travel time | Madurai News – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
^ "Indian Railways history". Retrieved 6 November 2012.
^ "Annual originating passengers & earnings for the year 2017–18" (PDF). Southern Railways. Retrieved 13 October 2019.

Railways in Southern India

Authority

Ministry of Railways
Railway Board

Zones and divisions

South Central	Hyderabad Secunderabad
South Coast	Guntakal Guntur Vijayawada Waltair
Southern	Chennai Madurai Palakkad Salem Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchirappalli
South Western	Bangalore Hubli Mysore

Suburban and metro

Operational

Suburban	Chennai Suburban Chennai MRTS Hyderabad MMTS
Metro	Chennai Metro Kochi Metro Hyderabad Metro Namma Metro

Proposed

Workshops

Depots

Electric Loco	Arakkonam Erode Guntakal Kazipet Lallaguda Royapuram Vijayawada Visakhapatnam
Diesel Loco	Coonoor Erode Ernakulam Golden Rock Gooty Guntakal Hubli Kazipet Tondiarpet Vijayawada Visakhapatnam
Steam Loco	Coonoor
Multiple Unit	Avadi Bangalore Kollam Palakkad Tambaram Velachery Vijayawada

Lines

Main	Chennai–Bangalore Chennai–Howrah Chennai–New Delhi Chennai–Mumbai
Broad Gauge	Bangalore–Hubli Bhimavaram–Narasapur Chennai–Thanjavur Ernakulam–Kayamkulam Ernakulam–Kottayam–Kayamkulam Erode–Tiruchirappalli Gudivada–Machilipatnam Jolarpettai–Shoranur Kollam–Sengottai Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram Kothapalli–Manoharabad Kothavalasa–Kirandul Madurai–Tirunelveli Manamadurai–Rameswaram Manamadurai–Virudhunagar Mangalore–Mysore Mysore–Bangalore Mysore–Chamarajanagar Nagercoil–Tirunelveli Nilambur–Shoranur Palakkad–Pollachi Peddapalli–Nizamabad Pune–Londa Samalkot–Kakinada Secunderabad–Manmad Tenali–Repalle Thiruvananthapuram–Kanyakumari Vijayawada–Nidadavolu Viluppuram–Tiruchirappalli
Mountain	Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Sections	Duvvada–Vijayawada Gudur–Renigunta Guntakal–Nandyal Guntakal–Renigunta Guntakal–Vasco da Gama Guntur–Tenali Hassan–Bangalore Kazipet–Vijayawada Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam Motumarri–Vishnupuram Nagpur–Secunderabad Nallapadu–Nandyal Nandyal–Yerraguntla Pagidipalli–Nallapadu Secunderabad–Dhone Shoranur–Cochin Harbour Shoranur–Mangalore Solapur–Guntakal Vijayawada–Gudur Vijayawada–Guntur
Inactive	Cochin State Forest Tramway Kundala Valley Railway Nilambur–Nanjangud line Sabarimala Railway

Passenger trains

Stations

Major	Arakkonam Jn. Chengalpattu Jn. Bengaluru KSR Bengaluru Yesvantpur Jn. Chennai Avadi Chennai Central Chennai Egmore Tambaram Coimbatore Jn. Ernakulam Jn. Hyderabad Hyderabad Deccan Kacheguda Secunderabad Jn. Katpadi Jn. Kollam Jn. Kozhikode Madurai Jn. Mysuru Jn. Thiruvananthapuram Central Thrissur Tirupati Tiruvallur Vijayawada Jn. Visakhapatnam Jn.

Railway companies

Active	Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) Konkan Railway Corporation (KRCL) Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation (KRTCL) Kerala Rail Development Corporation (KRDC)
Defunct	East Coast State Railway Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railways Madras Railway Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway