Chord Line, Tamil Nadu

3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)Loading gauge4,725 mm × 3,660 mm (15 ft 6.0 in × 12 ft 0.1 in) (BG)^[2]Electrification25 kV AC 50 HzOperating speed80 km/h (50 mph)

Route map

Legend

				km

					to Chennai Egmore
					to Katpadi Junction
				0	Viluppuram Junction
					NH 332
					to Puducherry
					to Cuddalore Port Junction
				8	Kandambakkam
					Thenpennai River
				16	Tiruvennainallur
				25	Parikkal
					Gadilam River
				36	Ulundurupet
					NH 45
				41	Meppuliyur
				49	Puvanur
					to Salem Junction
					to Cuddalore Port Junction
					SH 69
				55	Vriddhachalam Junction
					Vellar River
					SH 16
					NH 532
				65	Vriddhachalam Town
				70	Talanallur
				74	Pennadam
					SH 141
					Manjal River
				79	Ichchangadu
				83	Mathur
				92	Sendurai
				95	Vellur (Halt)
				100	Ottakovil
					Madras Cements
					NH 136
				109	Ariyalur
					Perambalur–Ariyalur Road
				116	Sillakudi
					NH 227
				123	Kallagam
				134	Kallakudi Palanganatham
				138	Pullambadi
				147	Kattur
					Trichy-Paramsivapuram Road
				152	Lalgudi
				155	Mandurai
				158	Valadi
					NH 227
				162	Pichchandarkovil
					NH 45
				164	Uttamarkovil
					Kollidam River
				167	Srirangam
					Kaveri
				170	Tiruchirappalli Town
					to Manjatidal (Golden Rock Byepass line)

					Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock
					Golden Rock Railway Workshop
				176	Golden Rock
					to Tiruchirappalli Goods yard
					to Karur Junction
					Good shed road overpass
				178	Tiruchirappalli Junction
					Junction overpass
					to Karaikkudi Junction
					Rail yard
					to Dindigul Junction

The Chord Line connects Viluppuram Junction and Tiruchirappalli Junction, via Virudhachalam Junction in Tamil Nadu. It is the vital, shortest and busiest route connecting Chennai Egmore and Southern Tamil Nadu.

History

Until 1927, Viluppuram Junction and Tiruchirappalli Junction were only connected by Main line that traversed through Kumbakonam and Mayavaram, which was 240 kilometres (150 mi). Hence, the need for shorter route arose and construction began on 22 August 1927 for a new railway line via Virudhachalam Junction in phases. Initially, the stretch between Viluppuram Junction and Virudhachalam were completed and opened on 1 December 1927, the Srirangam - Golden Rock stretch on 22 August 1927, Bikshandarkoil - Srirangam stretch on 12 December 1927 and the entire stretch began its operations since 1 February 1929. This line gradually reduced the Madras - Colombo journey by around four hours.^[3]

Gauge conversions

The conversion from metre gauge to broad gauge was effected during 1992-93 and completed during September 1998.^[4]

Electrification

This stretch was proposed for electrification phase by phase by CORE. The electrification was completed during 2010.^[5]

Operations

Passenger services

The line experiences a heaviest traffic^[6] handling about 30 passenger and 56 express trains passing through every day in addition to goods train, particularly during night.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Freight services

The line has a number of Industrial establishments^[10] which utilises their nearby railway stations for their logistics and transports such as Central Workshop (Golden Rock), Cement and gypsum factories at Trichy, Perambalur and Ariyalur,^[11]^[12]^[13] and the Sugar factories at Villupuram and Vridhachalam,^[14]

References

^ "Trains at a Glance July 2013 - June 2014". Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ J S Mundrey (2010). Railway Track Engineering (Fourth ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-07-068012-8. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ R. P. Saxena. "Indian Railway History Time line". Irse.bravehost.com. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ "Works And Contract Management". Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ "Electrification work from Villupuram to Tiruchi completed: E. Ahamed". The Hindu. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ R.Rajaram (15 May 2013). "Dindigul-Villupuram project set to cross another milestone". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ R.Rajaram (10 July 2010). "Tiruchi-Chennai line to get decongested". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ "Doubling work on 25-km stretch completed in Trichy division". The Times of India. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ "Kallakudi Palanganatham-Ariyalur railway line nearing completion". The Hindu. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ "Southern Railway - Tiruchchirappalli Division" (PDF). Southern Railway zone. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ "Analysis of alternatives" (PDF). Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project. p. 33. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ M. V. L. Manikantan (21 December 2013). "Proposed Karaikal-Peralam line to boost freight traffic". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ T. E. Raja Simhan (1 February 2010). "Karaikal scores high on rail connectivity". The Hindu. Business Line. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ W. Francis; Frederick Nicholson; C. S. Middlemiss; C. A. Barber; E. Thurston; G. H. Stuart (2002). Gazetteer of South India. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. p. 127. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

External links

Southern Railways - Official Website

Railways in Southern India

Authority

Ministry of Railways
Railway Board

Zones and divisions

South Central	Hyderabad Secunderabad
South Coast	Guntakal Guntur Vijayawada Waltair
Southern	Chennai Madurai Palakkad Salem Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchirappalli
South Western	Bangalore Hubli Mysore

Suburban and metro

Operational

Suburban	Chennai Suburban Chennai MRTS Hyderabad MMTS
Metro	Chennai Metro Kochi Metro Hyderabad Metro Namma Metro

Proposed

Workshops

Depots

Electric Loco	Arakkonam Erode Guntakal Kazipet Lallaguda Royapuram Vijayawada Visakhapatnam
Diesel Loco	Coonoor Erode Ernakulam Golden Rock Gooty Guntakal Hubli Kazipet Tondiarpet Vijayawada Visakhapatnam
Steam Loco	Coonoor
Multiple Unit	Avadi Bangalore Kollam Palakkad Tambaram Velachery Vijayawada

Lines

Main	Chennai–Bangalore Chennai–Howrah Chennai–New Delhi Chennai–Mumbai
Broad Gauge	Bangalore–Hubli Bhimavaram–Narasapur Chennai–Thanjavur Ernakulam–Kayamkulam Ernakulam–Kottayam–Kayamkulam Erode–Tiruchirappalli Gudivada–Machilipatnam Jolarpettai–Shoranur Kollam–Sengottai Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram Kothapalli–Manoharabad Kothavalasa–Kirandul Madurai–Tirunelveli Manamadurai–Rameswaram Manamadurai–Virudhunagar Mangalore–Mysore Mysore–Bangalore Mysore–Chamarajanagar Nagercoil–Tirunelveli Nilambur–Shoranur Palakkad–Pollachi Peddapalli–Nizamabad Pune–Londa Samalkot–Kakinada Secunderabad–Manmad Tenali–Repalle Thiruvananthapuram–Kanyakumari Vijayawada–Nidadavolu Viluppuram–Tiruchirappalli
Mountain	Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Sections	Duvvada–Vijayawada Gudur–Renigunta Guntakal–Nandyal Guntakal–Renigunta Guntakal–Vasco da Gama Guntur–Tenali Hassan–Bangalore Kazipet–Vijayawada Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam Motumarri–Vishnupuram Nagpur–Secunderabad Nallapadu–Nandyal Nandyal–Yerraguntla Pagidipalli–Nallapadu Secunderabad–Dhone Shoranur–Cochin Harbour Shoranur–Mangalore Solapur–Guntakal Vijayawada–Gudur Vijayawada–Guntur
Inactive	Cochin State Forest Tramway Kundala Valley Railway Nilambur–Nanjangud line Sabarimala Railway

Passenger trains

Stations

Major	Arakkonam Jn. Chengalpattu Jn. Bengaluru KSR Bengaluru Yesvantpur Jn. Chennai Avadi Chennai Central Chennai Egmore Tambaram Coimbatore Jn. Ernakulam Jn. Hyderabad Hyderabad Deccan Kacheguda Secunderabad Jn. Katpadi Jn. Kollam Jn. Kozhikode Madurai Jn. Mysuru Jn. Thiruvananthapuram Central Thrissur Tirupati Tiruvallur Vijayawada Jn. Visakhapatnam Jn.

Railway companies

Active	Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) Konkan Railway Corporation (KRCL) Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation (KRTCL) Kerala Rail Development Corporation (KRDC)
Defunct	East Coast State Railway Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railways Madras Railway Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway