# Madurai railway division

Madurai railway division is one of the six railway divisions under the jurisdiction of Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Officially created in 1956, 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 country. Currently it covers up to twelve districts of Tamil Nadu and one in Kerala. It is headquartered in Madurai.
Major revenue generating junctions in the division are Madurai, Tirunelveli, Dindigul. In these stations most of the train halt and rake reversals takes place and also passenger foot fall is high.

## History
### Origins

The first railway line in this region was open in 1857 connecting Madurai to Trichnopoly (Trichy) 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 Vanchi Maniyachchi to Tirunelveli was opened.
Most of the other current lines were completed in the twentieth century. Among them were:
* Madurai-Mandapam line in 1902
* Tirunelveli-Kallidaikurichi line in 1902
* Manamadura-Sivaganga line in 1902
* Kallidaikurichi-Sengottai line in 1903
* Kollam-Punalur line in 1904
* Punalur-Sengottai line in 1904
* Pamban-Rameswaram line in 1906
* Pamban-Dhanushkodi line in 1908
* Mandapam-Pamban line in 1914
* Virudhunagar-Tenkasi line in 1927
* Dindigul-Pollachi line in 1928
* Thiruchirappalli-Pudukkottai line in 1929
* Pudukkottai-Sivaganga line in 1930
* Virudhunagar-Aruppukkottai Line in 1963
* Aruppukkottai-Manamadurai Line in 1964

### Inception

The Government decided to locate the headquarters of the division, which includes Tinnevely also, at Madurai. The Madurai railway division was formed in 1956, comprising the Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram line, Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil-Tirunelveli-Madurai line, Kollam-Sengottai-Tirunelveli line, Rameswaram-Manamadurai-Madurai line, Manamadurai-Karaikudi-Tiruchirappalli line, Madurai-Dindigul-Pollachi line, Karaikudi-Thiruduraipoondi-Thiruvarur line and the Madurai-Bodinayakkanur line. All lines currently in use have been converted to broad gauge (BG).
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, 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.

## Administration and jurisdiction

Th division spans across two states namely Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Tamil Nadu it serves twelve districts: Coimbatore, Dindigul, Madurai, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Theni, Tiruppur, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Virudhunagar districts. In Kerala, the division covers the district of Kollam as far as Kilikollur railway station.

### Categorisation of stations

The list includes the stations under the Madurai railway division and their station category.
| Category of station | No. of stations | Names of stations |
| NSG-1 Category | 0 | |
| NSG-2 Category | 1 | Madurai Junction, Tirunelveli Junction |
| NSG-3 Category | 4 | Tuticorin, Rameswaram, Dindigul Junction |
| NSG-4 Category | 7 | Virudhunagar Junction, Karaikudi Junction, Kovilpatti, Ramanathapuram,etc. |
| NSG-5 Category | 21 | Manamadurai Junction, Rajapalayam, Pudukkottai, Sivakasi, Sivaganga, Aruppukkottai, etc. |
| NSG-6 Category | 81 | etc. |
| HG - 1 Category | - | - |
| HG - 2 Category | 11 | - |
| HG - 3 Category | 10 | - |
| Total | 135 | - |
Stations closed for passengers - Nataransankottai, Karupatti, Nedugulam, Manamadurai East, Kulathur, Thondaimanallur and some stations.
List of stations and its MSG categories in Madurai division for 2023

## Performance and earnings

The division won the inter-divisional overall efficiency - Best Division - award for its performance and earnings in the financial year of 2013. The total originating earnings for the year 2013-14 is Rs 576.29 crore as against the 2012-13 actual of Rs 523.68 crore leading to a 10% growth in overall earnings. On the punctuality front, the division achieved 96.2% for express and mail trains and 96.8% for passenger trains against the target of 96 per cent. Cash awards and merit certificates were distributed to officers and stations for their performance and maintenance. Railway school students performed cultural events during the celebrations.

## Operations and services
### Regular trains

| No of trains run | Daily | Non-daily |
| Express | 25 | 34 |
| Passenger | 56 | 0 |

### Special trains

| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 (Up to October) |
| 1965 | 1848 | 700 |

### Stations

| Passenger halts | No. of stations |
| Block stations | 101 |
| Flag stations | 20 |
| Halt stations | 16 |