Madurai railway division
Front view of Madurai Junction
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| Locale | Tamil Nadu, India |
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| Dates of operation | 1956– |
| Predecessor | Southern Railways |
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) |
| Previous gauge | 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) |
| Length | 1,356 km (843 mi) |
| Headquarters | Madurai |
| Website | Madurai railway division |
Madurai railway division is a railway division belonging to the Southern Railways (SR), India. Officially created in 1856, it spans over 1,356 km (843 mi) 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 based in Madurai.
The first railway line in the region was thrown open in 1857 connecting Madurai to Trichinopoly 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 Maniyachchi to Tirunelveli was opened.
Only in the next century, most of the other present lines were completed. Among them were:
The Madurai railway division was formed in 1956, comprising the Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram line, Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil-Tirunelveli-Madurai line, Kollam-Sengottai-Tirunelveli line, Rameswaram-Manamaadurai-Madurai line, Manamadurai-Karaikudi-Tiruchirappalli line, Madurai-Dindigul-Pollachi line and the other branches of these lines. All lines currently in use have been converted to Broad Gauge while remaining sections namely Madurai-Bodinayakkanur section and Punalur-Sengottai section are in the process of gauge conversion.
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.
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Wikipedia