Southern Railway Zone
Southern Railway-7
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| Locale | Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry |
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| Dates of operation | 1951– |
| Predecessor |
South Indian Railway Company Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Mysore State Railway |
| Track gauge | Broad gauge and Metre gauge |
| Electrification | Yes |
| Length | 6,844 kilometres (4,253 mi) |
| Headquarters | Chennai Central |
| Website | SR official website |
Coordinates: 13°04′57″N 80°16′37″E / 13.08240°N 80.27705°E
The Southern Railway, headquartered at Chennai Central, is one of the 17 zones of Indian Railways. It is the earliest of the 17 zones of the Indian Railways created in independent India. It was created on 14 April 1951 by merging three state railways, namely, the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway Company, and the Mysore State Railway. The South Indian Railway was originally created in the British colonial times as Great Southern India Railway Co founded in Britain in 1853 and registered in 1859. Its original headquarters was in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and was registered as a company in London only in 1890.
In 1944, all Railway companies were taken over by the Government. And three years later, when India woke up to independence in 1947, the stage was set for the integration of different Railways into smaller zones. In 1948, immediately after independence, there were as many as 42 different railway systems - a multiplicity of railway administrations, varying in size and standards.
The regrouping proposals put forward by the various committees were studied in great detail to ensure that a unification could be achieved with the least disturbance and dislocation. Important associations of railway-users, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the State Governments and acknowledged experts both in India and abroad were fully consulted.
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