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Trivandrum Central
തിരുവനന്തപുരം സെന്ട്രല്
Indian Railway Station
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Trivandrum Central Station main building. |
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| Location | |
| Coordinates | 8.4874°N 76.952°E |
| Street | Thampanoor |
| City | Thiruvananthapuram |
| District | Thiruvananthapuram |
| State | Kerala |
| Elevation | MSL + 16 ft |
| Station Info & Facilities | |
| Station type | Central Station |
| Structure | Standard (on ground station) |
| Station status | Functioning |
| Parking | Available |
| Entrance(s) | North (Main), South and West |
| Baggage check | X-Ray detection machine installed |
| Connections | Taxi Stand,Pre paid Auto service, Trivandrum Central bus station of the KSRTC |
| Operation | |
| Code | TVC |
| Division(s) | Thiruvananthapuram Railway division |
| Zone(s) | Southern Railway |
| Line(s) | Trivandrum – Kayamkulam, Trivandrum – Kanyakumari, Trivandrum-Punalur-Erumeli (Proposed) |
| Track(s) | 15 |
| Platform(s) | 5 |
| History | |
| Opened | 4 November 1931 |
| Electrified | 30 December 2005 |
| Traffic | |
| Passengers () | 200,000 per day |
Trivandrum Central (Malayalam: തിരുവനന്തപുരം സെന്ട്രല്) is the main railway station in the city of Thiruvananthapuram (formerly Trivandrum) in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the largest and busiest railway station in Kerala in terms of passenger movement and the second most important rail hub in South India.[1] It is also the most profitable station under Southern Railway Division.[2] The building of the railway station is one of the landmarks in Trivandrum.
Trains from here connect the city of Thiruvananthapuram to major cities of India including New Delhi, Chennai, Indore, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Vizag, Jammu, Howrah, Guwahati, Madgaon, Hubli, Ahmedabad, Gwalior, Nagpur, Pune, Jaipur, Kota, Rajasthan Bhubaneshwar, Gorakhpur, Ernakulam, Calicut, Vijayawada, Bhubaneshwar, Coimbatore, Mangalore etc. This station is also noted for a whole range of amenities available within the premises. The station has book-shops, restaurants, accommodation, Internet browsing centers and even an essential commodities shopping mall. A second satellite station was opened in 2005 at Kochuveli called the Kochuveli Vikram Sarabhai Terminal, near the International Airport. Thiruvananthapuram is the first major city from south along the longest train routes in India, the Kanyakumari-Trivandrum-Dibrugarh Vivek route and the Kanyakumari-Trivandrum-Jammu Tawi Himsagar route.
Trivandrum Central is also a terminating point for the proposed Chennai-Bangalore-Chennai-Trivandrum High Speed Rail (HSR) corridor and the Thiruvananthapuram - Mangalore High Speed Rail corridor by the Indian Railways.
The Trivandrum Central station building was built during the reign of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the Maharani of Travancore, and inaugurated on 4 November 1931. This is the oldest Railway station building, still functioning in India.[3] No bricks were used for the construction of this station building; it was built completely with rock masonry.[4] A second terminal (south Terminal) was opened in 2004 to handle passenger traffic and later a West Terminal in 2007. This station is completely Wi-Fi enabled.To reduce traffic, the Central Railway Station has 18 railway tracks.
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The foresightedness of Maharani is well visible in the layout of Trivandrum Central station. Trivandrum was a branch line station but the Maharani built it at par with the counterparts in the major cities of India. Though the station was built to handle just two departures per day in 1931, it now handles more than 40. The number of people visiting the station has exponentially increased during the last sixty years. But the station handles the traffic and passengers with ease, without much of a change to the major structure. The station had just one platform in the beginning.
This station now has 5 platforms to handle long distance trains and short distance trains.[5] There is a second terminal on the other side of the main entrance. The train care centre functions adjacent to this second terminal. Plans are on to shift the coahing terminal here to Nemom to increase the number of platforms to 12.(10 for all the trains entering and exiting and 2 exclusivley for trains from south of the station) Thiruvananthapuram Pettah, Nemom Railway Station and Kochuveli Vikram Sarabhai Terminal act as satellite stations to Trivandrum Central.
Some of the major trains originating from the station.[6][7]
| No. | Train No: | Origin | Destination | Train Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 16724 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Chennai Egmore | Ananthapuri Express |
| 2. | 12623 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Chennai Central | Chennai Mail |
| 3. | 12696 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Chennai Central | Chennai Superfast Express |
| 4. | 16341 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Guruvayur | Intercity Express |
| 5. | 12698 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Chennai Central | Chennai Superfast Express |
| 6. | 16332 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus | Mumbai Express |
| 7. | 12625 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | New Delhi | Kerala Express |
| 8. | 12431 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Hazrat Nizamuddin | Thiruvananthapuram-Rajdhani Express |
| 9. | 12076 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Kozhikode | Jan Shatabdi Express |
| 10. | 12512 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Gorakhpur Junction via Chennai Central | Raptisagar Express |
| 11. | 12515 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Guwahati via Chennai Central | Guwahati Express |
| 12. | 12643 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Hazrat Nizamuddin | Swarnajayanthi Express |
| 13. | 16302 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Shornur Junction | Venad Express |
| 14. | 16304 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Ernakulam Junction | Vanchinad Express |
| 15. | 16322 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Bangalore City Junction | Bangalore Express |
| 16. | 16323 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Shalimar | Shalimar Express |
| 17. | 16326 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Indore Junction via Chennai Central | Ahilyanagari Express |
| 18. | 16328 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Korba | Korba Express |
| 19. | 16334 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Veraval | Veraval Express |
| 20. | 16343 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Palakkad Town | Amritha Express |
| 21. | 16346 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Lokmanya Tilak Terminus | Netravati Express |
| 22. | 16347 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Mangalore | Mangalore Express |
| 23. | 16649 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Mangalore | Parasuram Express |
| 24. | 16603 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Mangalore | Maveli Express |
| 25. | 16630 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Mangalore | Malabar Express |
| 26. | 17230 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Hyderabad Deccan | Sabari Express |
| 27. | 12082 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Kozhikode | Jan Shatabdi Express |
| 28. | 22208 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Chennai Central | Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram AC Duronto |
| 29. | 16349 | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Nilambur Road | Rajya Rani Express |
| No. | Train No: | Origin | Destination | Train Name |
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| 1. | 16606 | Nagercoil | Mangalore | Ernad Express |
| 2. | 12659 | Nagercoil | Shalimar | Gurudev Express |
| 3. | 16335 | Nagercoil | Gandhidham | Nagercoil Express |
| 4. | 16381 | Kanyakumari | Mumbai | Jayanthi Janatha Express |
| 5. | 16525 | Kanyakumari | Bangalore | Island Express |
| 6. | 16317 | Kanyakumari | Jammutawi | Himsagar Express |
| 7. | 12997 | Tirunelveli | Happa | Happa Superfast Express |
| 8. | 12995 | Tirunelveli | Bilaspur | Bilaspur Superfast Express |
| 9. | 15906 | Dibrugarh | Kanyakumari | Vivek Express (Longest running passenger train in the country) |
| 10. | 16727 | Chennai Egmore | Guruvayur | Guruvayur Express |
| No. | Origin | Destination |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kollam | Madurai |
| 2. | Kottayam | Nagercoil |
| 3. | Kochuveli Vikram Sarabhai Terminal | Nagercoil |
| 4. | Madurai | Kollam |
| 5. | Nagercoil | Kottayam |
| 6. | Nagercoil | Kochuveli Vikram Sarabhai Terminal |
| 7. | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Nagercoil |
| 8. | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Nagercoil |
| 9. | Thiruvananthapuram Central | Nagercoil |
The station handles over 200,000 passengers daily.[8] Several facilities such as restaurants, book stalls, rooms for daily rent, rest rooms, etc. are provided to serve this high volume of passengers. An air-conditioned dormitory, improved and extended parking and new pedestrian entry were the new facilities opened. The total available parking area comes around 5,500 m². An additional 400 m² covered area has been added to this.[8]
Trivandrum Central is well equipped with modern security gadgets, and is the first station in the state to install video surveillance. The Networked electronic surveillance system is installed in this Central Station by Railway Protection Force (RPF) for improving the security and for monitoring the movement of passengers arriving at the station.[9]
Decision has been taken by the Indian Railways to convert the Trivandrum Central railway station into world-class standards. The foundation stone for the expansion and modernisation of the station was laid by the Union Minister for Railways, Lalu Prasad in December 2006. Tenders have been invited for carrying out feasibility studies for this proposed project. More than Rs.100 crores is needed for the first phase of this project.[10]
A new complex of the railway station will be built with a built-up area of 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2). All modern facilities including an office and commercial complex is planned here. The proposal to set up a suburban terminal at Nemom or Putharikandam Maidanam is also in the pipeline. It is estimated that only a consortium would be able to take up the expansion project of Trivandrum Central, since the project is a massive one.[11]
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