Thiruvananthapuram–Nagercoil–Kanyakumari line

Thiruvananthapuram–Kanyakumari line
Thiruvananthapuram–Kanyakumari line
	Thiruvananthapuram Central Station main building
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Southern Railway zone
Locale	Kerala; Tamilnadu
Termini	Thiruvananthapuram Central (TVC); Kanyakumari (CAPE);
Stations	16
Website	Southern Railway
Service
Type	Regional rail; Light rail
System	Electrified
Services	1
Operator(s)	Thiruvananthapuram
Rolling stock	WAP-1, WAP-4 electric locos; WDS-6, WDM-2, WDM-3A, WDP-4 and WDG-3A, WDG-4
History
Opened	1979; 45 years ago
Electrification	2012
Technical
Line length	86 kilometres (53 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Loading gauge	4,725 mm × 3,660 mm (15 ft 6.0 in × 12 ft 0.1 in) (BG)
Electrification	Overhead catenary
Operating speed	100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) (between Thiruvananthapuram Central and Nagercoil Junction); 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph) (between Nagercoil Junction and Kanyakumari)
Route map
Route map
	Legend
	MDUTooltip Madurai railway division
	TVCTooltip Thiruvananthapuram railway division
	74
	0
	Tamil Nadu
	Kerala

The Thiruvananthapuram–Nagercoil–Kanyakumari line is a line in the Southern Railway zone of Indian Railways. It connects the cities Thiruvananthapuram and Nagercoil. The railway opened on 15 April 1979. This is the southernmost section of Indian Railways. The terminus of the line is at Kanyakumari railway station.

History

In 1955, a survey for the railway line was sanctioned.^[5] It was completed in 1965, and construction began on 6 September 1972 with a ceremony with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.^[6] On 15 April 1979, the line began to operate.^[7]

The Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil-Kanyakumari railway line is fully electrified.^[2] Track doubling work is in progress^[8] and is expected to finished in 2022.^[9]

Stations

There are 16 railway stations along the line. The major stations are Nagercoil Junction, Nagercoil Town, Eraniel, Kulitthurai, and Neyyattinkara. Thiruvananthapuram_South_(Nemom), the second satellite passenger terminal to the proposed Thiruvananthapuram Central, also comes under this section.

The train line has seen financial gain, and its earnings are shown below.^[10] Stations in bold letters generated a minimum of 2 crore.


Sl. No	Station Name	Category^[11]^[12]^{[note 1]} (based on 2011-12 earnings)	Earnings during 2016–17	Total no. of passengers booked during 2016–17	Passengers per day	Daily avg. earnings during 2016–17
1	Thiruvananthapuram Central (TVC)	NSG 2/ A1	184,48,16,371	1,43,63,426	39,352	50,54,291
2	Thiruvananthapuram_South_(Nemom) (NEM)	NSG 6/E	4,59,865	64,823	178	1,260
3	Balaramapuram (BRAM)	NSG 6/E	12,29,900	1,89,367	519	3,370
4	Neyyattinkara (NYY)	NSG 5/D	2,00,04,580	18,14,997	4,973	54,807
5	Amaravila Halt (AMVA)	HG 2/F	7,24,075	1,24,130	340	1,984
6	Dhanuvachapuram (DAVM)	HG 2/F	20,80,930	3,85,654	1,057	5,701
7	Parassala (PASA)	NSG 5/E	1,76,22,854	11,82,863	3,241	48,282
8	Kuzhuthurai West (KZTW)	HG 2/F	22,18,990	2,57,362	705	6,079
9	Kuzhithurai(KZT)	NSG 5/B	6,13,04,832	13,37,257	3,664	1,67,958
10	Palliyadi (PYD)	HG 2/F	8,90,791	1,23,953	340	2,441
11	Eraniel (ERL)	NSG 5/D	2,21,49,696	5,26,474	1,442	60,684
12	Viranialur (VRLR)	HG 2/F	6,07,565	63,872	175	1,665
13	Nagercoil Town (NJT)	HG 1/F	1,48,65,233	1,31,912	361	40,727
14	Nagercoil Junction (NCJ)	NSG 3/A	46,43,32,656	23,80,085	6,521	12,72,144
15	Suchindram (SCH)
16	Kanyakumari (CAPE)	NSG 4/A	8,37,80,622	6,95,368	1,905	5,03,509

Rail traffic

Around 21 trains run on the line. More trains are expected to be introduced along the route with the completion of track doubling.

The operating speed of trains running between Thiruvananthapuram to Nagercoil ranges from 80 to 100 km per hour. Trains operating from Kanyakumari to Nagercoil run from 75 to 90 km per hour.^[4]

Notes

^ Station grouping has been separated into three categories. Non-suburban (NS), Suburban (S), and Halt (H). These groups have further been put in grades ranging from NSG 1-6, SG 1-3 and HG 1-3, respectively.

References

^ "Railway Budget speech 1979-80" (PDF). www.indianrailways.gov.in. Government of India, Ministry of Railways. 20 February 1979.
^ ^a ^b "First electric engine-hauled train reaches Kanyakumari". The Hindu. Thiruvananthapuram. 25 May 2012.
^ J S Mundrey (2010). Railway Track Engineering (Fourth ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-07-068012-8. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
^ ^a ^b "The Trivandrum division has also decided to increase the speed of trains". The Hindu. Nagercoil. 4 December 2013.
^ "Railway Budget speech 1956-57" (PDF). www.indianrailways.gov.in. Government of India, Ministry of Railways. 23 February 1956.
^ "Railway Budget speech 1965-66" (PDF). www.indianrailways.gov.in. Government of India, Ministry of Railways. 18 February 1965.
^ "Railway Budget speech 1973-74" (PDF). www.indianrailways.gov.in. Government of India, Ministry of Railways. 20 February 1973.
^ "Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari doubling to begin on Jan 23". The Hindu. Thiruvananthapuram. 12 January 2018.
^ "Railways begin doubling work". The Hindu. Thiruvananthapuram. 24 January 2018.
^ "Southern Railway - Annual originating passengers & earnings for the year 2016-17" (PDF). Retrieved 17 April 2018.
^ "Minister of Railways directs to re-categorize railway stations taking into account earnings, passenger footfall, strategic importance". pib.nic.in.
^ "Railways revise station categories to improve services". The Economic Times.

External links

[13] Station grouping has been separated into three categories. Non-suburban (NS), Suburban (S), and Halt (H). These groups have further been put in grades ranging from NSG 1-6, SG 1-3 and HG 1-3, respectively.

[budget79-1] "Railway Budget speech 1979-80" (PDF). www.indianrailways.gov.in. Government of India, Ministry of Railways. 20 February 1979.

[electrification-2] "First electric engine-hauled train reaches Kanyakumari". The Hindu. Thiruvananthapuram. 25 May 2012.

[gauge-3] J S Mundrey (2010). Railway Track Engineering (Fourth ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-07-068012-8. Retrieved 6 June 2017.

[speed-4] "The Trivandrum division has also decided to increase the speed of trains". The Hindu. Nagercoil. 4 December 2013.

[budget56-5] "Railway Budget speech 1956-57" (PDF). www.indianrailways.gov.in. Government of India, Ministry of Railways. 23 February 1956.

[budget65-6] "Railway Budget speech 1965-66" (PDF). www.indianrailways.gov.in. Government of India, Ministry of Railways. 18 February 1965.

[budget73-7] "Railway Budget speech 1973-74" (PDF). www.indianrailways.gov.in. Government of India, Ministry of Railways. 20 February 1973.

[8] "Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari doubling to begin on Jan 23". The Hindu. Thiruvananthapuram. 12 January 2018.

[9] "Railways begin doubling work". The Hindu. Thiruvananthapuram. 24 January 2018.

[10] "Southern Railway - Annual originating passengers & earnings for the year 2016-17" (PDF). Retrieved 17 April 2018.

[11] "Minister of Railways directs to re-categorize railway stations taking into account earnings, passenger footfall, strategic importance". pib.nic.in.

[12] "Railways revise station categories to improve services". The Economic Times.

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