Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Central station completes 75 years

The history of Railways in Kerala dates back to 1861 when the first railway line was laid between Beypore and Tirur.

CAPITAL LANDMARK: The Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station.

The Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station, hub of railway operations in the State, completed 75 years on Saturday.

It was on November 4, 1931 that the station started functioning. The massive granite building at Thampanoor, a landmark in the capital, was built in just three years at a cost of Rs.40 lakh. The building had a floor area of 17,236 sq. ft.

Only 14 metre gauge trains were handled at the station when it started functioning. Now, 76 trains are handled on five platforms. These include the 6317/6318 Kanyakumari-Jammu Tawi Express, the train running the longest distance in India — from the southern tip of the country to Jammu.

The history of railways in Kerala dates back to 1861 when the first railway line was laid between Beypore and Tirur.

The Shoranur-Ernakulam line, opened in 1902 as a metre gauge line, was converted into broad gauge in 1934. Construction of other Travancore branches of the South Indian Railway started in 1899-1900.

The railway line from Kollam to Punalur was opened for train services in 1904.

The extension of railway line further down was taken up in 1913 when the Secretary of the State for India sanctioned the Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram line. The work was completed in 1917 and the line opened in 1918.

But the railway line was only up to Chakka. The survey for extending the line to Thampanoor was taken up in 1924-25.

During that period, a survey was undertaken for a line between Thiruvananthapuram and Nagercoil also.

The plans and estimates for extending the line to Thampanoor were completed in 1928.

The total expenditure incurred for the construction of the Chakka-Thampanoor railway line was Rs. 25.64 lakh.

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

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