page_title: Royapuram
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Royapuram / History
caption_attribution_description: Royapuram Railway station — in Chennai, India.
context_page_description: Royapuram is a locality in the northern part of Chennai City, Tamil Nadu, India, most known for the Royapuram Railway Station and beach, the first railway station of south India opened in 1856, and is today the oldest surviving railway station of the Indian subcontinent
context_section_description: The region existed as a well known settlement during the Chola times, but the name Royapuram is derived from a Tamil appellation for St. Peter, Royappa, in connection with St. Peter's Church in the area. From the 14th century, the erstwhile Vijayanagara Rulers controlled this region till the Madras land grant to Francis Day.
  Royapuram Railway Station was the first railway station constructed in South India and second railway line in South Asia. The first train service commenced in 1856 from here to Arcot, the then capital of the Carnatic region.
caption: Royapuram Railway Station, opened in 1856
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