Shoranur–Cochin Harbour section

Shoranur–Cochin Harbour section
A view of Thrissur Railway Station in Thrissur City from the railway over bridge.
Overview
Type	Regional rail
System	Electrified
Status	Operational
Locale	Kerala
Termini	Shoranur Junction (SRR) Cochin Harbour Terminus (CHTS)
Stations	22
Services	2
Website	http://southernrailway.gov.in/sr/indexhome.jsp
Operation
Opened	16 July 1902 (1902-07-16)
Owner	Southern Railway Zone (Indian Railways)
Operator(s)	Palakkad railway division Thiruvananthapuram railway division
Character	Suburban and long distance
Depot(s)	Ernakulam
Rolling stock	WAP-1, WAP-4 electric locos; WDS-6, WDM-2, WDM-3A, WDP-4 and WDG-3A, WDG-4
Technical
Line length	107 kilometres (66 mi)
Track length	107 kilometres (66 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (broad gauge)
Electrification	Fully
Operating speed	100 kilometres per hour (62 mph)
Route map Legend Legend km to Nilambur Road  Palakkad Junction   Shoranur Junction   Kozhikode  1 Bharathapuzha Halt Bharathappuzha PGT limits TVC limits 4 Vallathol Nagar 8 Mullurkara 17 Wadakkanchery 24 Mulankunnathukavu to Guruvayur 31 Punkunnam 33 Thrissur 40 Ollur 47 Pudukad Karuvannur River 50 Nellayi 57 Irinjalakuda 63 Chalakudi Chalakudy River 65 Divine Nagar 69 Koratty 74 Karukutty 78 Angamaly 84 Chovvara Periyar (river) 88 Aluva 94 Kalamassery 98 Edappally 104 Ernakulam Town to Kottayam 106 Ernakulam C Cabin 107 Ernakulam Junction to Alappuzha

Shoranur–Cochin Harbour section is a high density railway corridor in Kerala state, India, running from Shoranur Junction in Palakkad district through Thrissur district to Cochin in Ernakulam district. The Shoranur–Cochin Harbour section is strategic and the lifeline of Kerala economy that connects the state to other parts of India. It is central to the provision of fast, long-distance Intercity and Express passenger services between Kerala and other cities of India. It is operated by Thiruvananthapuram railway division of the Southern Railway zone.

History

Rama Varma, known as Rajarshi, the Maharaja of Cochin (1895–1914) was instrumental in establishing the Shoranur Junction–Cochin Harbour Terminus railway line. Records at the archives reveal that the Maharaja had a prolonged, detailed correspondence with the Resident of the British Empire since 1862 on the ways and means to establish the railway line.^[1]

Finally, the State was asked to bear the entire expenditure involved in laying the lines. The Kingdom of Cochin then was not rich enough to bear the substantial investment. But the Maharaja made the decision to sell a part of the valuables in his custody. The treasury records of Kingdom of Cochin substantiate the fact that the Maharajah sold 14 gold elephant caparisons that belonged to the Sree Poornathrayesa temple and other personal ornaments which belonged to the Cochin Royal Family to fund the project.^[2]

Once the fund was sanctioned the project ran into another hurdle. About 18 miles (29 km) of the railway line, between Angamaly and Edappally, passed through the erstwhile Travancore state. In October 1899, the Travancore state was requested to hand over the land required for the laying of the railway line. Construction began in 1899 and was undertaken by the Madras Railway company, on behalf of the Cochin state. There was a delay in the commissioning as bridges had to be built across a few rivers on the route. The route was opened for goods traffic on the 2 June and for passenger traffic on 16 July 1902. Thus train traffic began on this line. The metre gauge line was later converted to broad (Indian) gauge on 24 October 1935. ^[3] It was during the Diwanship of P. Rajagopalachari (1896-1901), the railway line was completed and under the Diwanship of C.G. Herbert (1930-1935) the line was converted from Metre Gauge to Broad Gauge.^[4]

The Shoranur Junction–Kochi metre gauge railway line, that was about 62 miles (100 km) long, ended at the Ernakulam Terminus Station (Ernakulam Old Railway Station; Station Code: ERG), situated behind Kerala High Court. Initially, there was only one track. A circular track was put up nearby to enable the engine to turn. Buses and rickshaws used to come up to the station to pick up the passengers. There was an exclusive saloon for the Maharaja that used to be attached to the train only when the Maharaja travelled. Admission to the royal waiting room was restricted to members of the royal family and VIPs.^[3][5]

The contract having expired on 31 December 1907, The Madras Guaranteed Railway Co. was purchased by the Secretary of State for India. The northern lines were made over to Southern Maratha Railway Co. for working, the enlarged company being styled thereafter as the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Co. The southern lines from Jolarpet to Mangalore, including branch lines were similarly made over to the South Indian Railway Co. along with running powers over the Madras-Bangalore section. Shoranur–Cochin Railway Line was open to traffic on 16 July 1902. The line was the property of the Cochin Government and was worked by the South Indian Railway Company.^[5] The line was converted into broad gauge between 1930 and 1935 as part of development of Cochin Port.

Post-colonial

After Independence, the route was allocated to Palakkad Railway Division which was formed on 31 August 1956. Later on 2 October 1979, it was transferred to Thiruvananthapuram railway division which is the youngest division under Southern Railway. In 1986, the doubling of Shoranur–Ernakulam was completed. The electrification of this line was completed in 1996. A new broad gauge line for a distance of 23 kilometre connecting Thrissur to Guruvayur was opened in 1994. This line will be further extended to Tanur (via) Kuttipuram to connect the West Coast line and will serve as a parallel line to the existing Shoranur–Thrissur line.^[2][2][5]

Economic importance

An average, about 110 trains (60 passenger and 35 goods train) passes through this high density corridor every day.^[6][7] Till 1943, all the goods to Kerala state were transported through back waters. After the arrival of Shoranur – Cochin Harbour section, backwaters lost the glory and majority of the goods were carried by the trains. Tiles, timber and wooden packing boxes were the main goods which were transported to other parts of India through Shoranur – Cochin Harbour section, from Ollur railway station. Later these goods were changed to petroleum goods from Kochi Refineries Limited, LPG from Kochi LNG Terminal, diesel, cement bags, iron ore, coal, copper, steel rods, salt, sugar, rice, wheat, containers to and from International Container Transshipment Terminal, Kochi etc.

Plans

The Indian Railways has mooted strengthening of the Ernakulam–Shoranur double line by setting up a third and fourth line. The new line between Ernakulam and Shoranur was needed taking into account the traffic generated from the International Container Transshipment Terminal, Kochi domestic container traffic, industrial growth and anticipated bulk food grain movements from the North. Introduction of Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMUs) in the Palakkad–Shoranur–Ernakulam sector; new railway line project along the Thrissur–Kollengode route; sanction of additional tracks, Automatic Signalling System (ASS), Automatic Block Signal (ABS), considering the heavy rail traffic between Shoranur and Ernakulam.

References

Railways in Southern India
National network / trunk lines	Howrah–Chennai main line New Delhi–Chennai main line Mumbai–Chennai line
Other lines / sections	Chennai Central–Bangalore City line Chennai Egmore–Thanjavur main line Chord Line Coimbatore–Shoranur railway line Gudivada–Bhimavaram section Gudivada–Machilipatnam branch line Guntakal–Chennai Egmore section Guntur–Macherla section Guntur–Repalle section Jolarpettai–Shoranur line Kazipet–Vijayawada section Kollam–Sengottai branch line Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram trunk line Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam section Kothavalasa–Kirandul line Manamadurai–Virudhunagar line Mysore–Bangalore railway line Mysore–Chamarajanagar branch line Nagpur–Hyderabad line Nilambur–Nanjangud rail line (Proposed) Nilambur–Shoranur railway line Nilgiri Mountain Railway Palakkad–Pollachi line Pagidipalli–Nallapadu railway line Peralam–Karaikal line Sabari railway line (Proposed) Shimoga–Talaguppa railway Shoranur–Cochin Harbour section Shoranur–Mangalore section Solapur–Guntakal section Vijayawada–Chennai section Vijayawada–Guntur section Visakhapatnam–Vijayawada section Ernakulam–Kayamkulam coastal railway line Guntakal–Vasco da Gama section Pune–Miraj–Londa line Bangalore–Arsikere–Hubli line Pamban–Dhanushkodi branch line (Defunct)
Urban and suburban rail transport	Chennai Chennai Suburban Railway Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System Chennai Metro Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System Hyderabad Metro Rail Bangalore Bangalore Commuter Rail Namma Metro Kochi Kochi Metro
Monorails	Bangalore Chennai Coimbatore Kozhikode Tiruchirappalli Thiruvananthapuram
Defunct railways	Cochin State Forest Tramway Kundala Valley Railway
Railway divisions	Bangalore Chennai Bangalore Hubli Madurai Mysore Palakkad Salem Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchirappalli
Named trains	Ahilya Nagari Express Ajmer–Hyderabad Meenakshi Express Andaman Express Amritha Express Anantapuri Express Andhra Pradesh Express Bangalore City–Ernakulam Intercity Express Bangalore Rajdhani Express Bhagmati Express Brindavan Express Chalukya Express Chamundi Express Charminar Express Chemmozhi Express Chennai Rajdhani Express Chennai–Alleppey Express Chennai Central–Coimbatore Shatabdi Express Chennai Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express Chennai–Jaipur Express Chennai–Madurai Duronto Express Chennai–Mysore Shatabdi Express Chennai Thiruvananthapuram AC Duronto Express Chennai Egmore–Mangalore Central Express Chennai Central–Vijayawada Jan Shatabdi Express Cheran Express Cholan Express Circar Express Cocanada AC Express Coimbatore–Chennai Express Coimbatore–Jaipur Express Coimbatore–Nagercoil Express Coimbatore–Tuticorin Link Express Coimbatore–Rameswaram Express Coromandel Express Ernad Express Ernakulam–H.Nizamudin Duronto Falaknuma Express Ganga Kaveri Express Godavari Express Gol Gumbaz Express Golconda Express Golden Chariot Goutami Express Grand Trunk Express Guruvayur Express Hampi Express Himsa Express Himsagar Express Hirakud Express Howrah–Chennai Mail Howrah–Kanyakumari Express Hussainsagar Express Hyderabad–Pune Express Indore–Yesvantpur Express Island Express Janmabhoomi Express Kanyakumari Express Kanyakumari–Mumbai Express Kaveri Express Kerala Express Krishna Express Kollam–Visakhapatnam Express Kongu Express Kovai Express Lal Bagh Express Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Ernakulam Duronto Express Malabar Express Mangala Lakshadweep Express Mangalore Yaswanthpur Express Manikarnika Express Mannai express Marusagar Express Matsyaganda Express Maveli Express Mayiladuthurai–Mysore Express Mumbai CST Chennai Express Mysore–Tuticorin Express Nagarjuna Express Nagercoil Passenger Nagavali Express Narayanadri Express Navjivan Express Navyug Express Nellai Express Netravati Express Nilgiri Express Pallavan Express Pandian Express Parasuram Express Pearl City Express Pinakini Express Poorna Express Pothigai Express Pune–Ernakulam Express Rajkot–Coimbatore Express Rani Chennamma Express Raptisagar Express Rockfort Express Sabari Express Samata Express Sanghamithra Express Satavahana Express Secunderabad Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express Secunderabad Rajdhani Express Secunderabad Mumbai Duronto Express Sharavati Express Sethu Express Silambu Express Simhapuri Express Tamil Nadu Express Tea Garden Express Thirukural Express Tippu Express Tirumala Express Tiruchirappalli–Howrah Superfast Express Tiruchirappalli–Mayiladuthurai Express Tiruchirappalli–Tirunelveli Intercity Express Thiruvananthapuram Mail Thiruvananthapuram–Indore Express Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express Udyan Express Uzhavan Express Vanchinad Express Venad Express Visakha Express Visakhapatnam–Secunderabad Duronto Express Visakhapatnam–Secunderabad Garib Rath Express West coast express Yesvantpur Puducherry Garib Rath Express Yelagiri express Yercaud Express
Manufacturing units / workshops / sheds	Integral Coach Factory Rail Wheel Factory Golden Rock Railway Workshop Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock Kollam MEMU Shed
Railway zones	South Central Railway Southern Railway South Western Railway
Railway companies	Konkan Railway Corporation Kerala Monorail Corporation East Coast State Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railways Madras Railway Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway
Agitations and accidents	1928 South Indian railway strike 1932 Madras and Southern Mahratta railway strike 1974 railway strike in India 1988 Kollam Peruman train accident Nellore train fire
See also	Indian Railways Bholu (mascot) Transport in Guntur Madras Time Thiruvananthapuram–Mangalore high-speed passenger corridor Annual passenger earnings details of railway stations in Kerala
Railways in India portal