Madurai railway division
Madurai railway division is a railway division belonging to the Southern Railways, India. Officially created in 1856, it spans over making it the largest railway division of the Southern Railways. 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.
History
Origins
The first railway line in this region was open in 1857 connecting Madurai to Trichirappalli via Dindigul and onward. In the following year, the railway line from Madurai to the port city of Thoothukudi was completed. In the same year, another line branching off from Vanchi Maniyachchi to Tirunelveli was opened.Only in the next century, most of the other present lines were completed. Among them were:
- Madurai-Mandapam line in 1902
- Tirunelveli-Kallidaikurichi 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-Manamadurai Jn line in 1930
- Virudhunagar-Aruppukkottai Line in 1963
- Aruppukkottai-Manamadurai Line in 1964
Inception
In 1979, certain sections of the railway division were carved out to form the Thiruvananthapuram railway division. The Metre 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 thus bringing down the jurisdiction of the division to 1356 km. It was then mentioned that when the Tirunelveli-Madurai line is converted into BG line the sections falling under Kanyakumari district and Tirunelveli District would be transferred back to Madurai Division. The Tirunelveli-Madurai line was converted into BG line on 8-4-1981 but the railway lines in the southern district haven't been restored till date. Kanyakumari terminal station lacks the required Railway infrastructures and therefore request for more train services were always turned down by them citing the same handicap as the reason.
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: Coimbatore, Dindigul, Madurai, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Theni, Tiruppur, Thoothukudi, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli and Virudhunagar districts. In Kerala, the division covers the district of Kollam till Kilikollur railway station.Categorisation of stations
The list includes the stations under the Madurai railway division and their station category.| Category of station | No. of stations | Names of stations |
| A-1 Category | 1 | |
| A Category | 9 | Kovilpatti,,,,, Karaikkudi Junction, Manamadurai Junction, Tenkasi Jn, |
| B Category | 11 | Karaikudi, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, Paramakkudi, Sivaganga, Aruppukkottai, Vanchi Maniyachchi Junction railway station,Sivakasi,Rajapalayam,Sengottai,Sattur |
| C Category | 29 | Kudalnagar,Srivilliputhur,Kadayanallur,Pambukovil sandai, Samayanallur, Vaadippatti, Silaimaan, Tirumangalam, Tirupparankundram, Vadapalanji, Samayanallur, Madurai East, Tirunelveli Town, Palayankottai, Pettai, Melappalayam, Thalayoothu, Kodai RD, Vellodu, Tamaraippadi, Kallidaikurichi, Kadambur, Thoothukudi Melur, Milavittan, Nazreth, Gangaikondaan, Thattankulam, Narikkinar, Kalligudi, Sivarakkottai, Ambasamudram, Pandiyapuram. |
| D Category | - | - |
| E Category | - | - |
| F Category Halt Station | - | - |
| Total | Above 150 | - |
Stations closed for Passengers - Nataransankottai,Nedugulam,Manamadurai East,Kulathur,Thondaimanallur and some stations