Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station

Thiruvananthapuram Central തിരുവനന്തപുരം സെൻട്രൽ तिरुवनंतपुरम सेंट्रल
Indian Railway Station Central Station
Thiruvananthapuram Central Station main building.
Location	Thampanoor, Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala  India
Coordinates	8°29′15″N 76°57′07″E / 8.4874°N 76.952°E / 8.4874; 76.952Coordinates: 8°29′15″N 76°57′07″E / 8.4874°N 76.952°E / 8.4874; 76.952
Elevation	6.740 metres (22.11 ft)
Line(s)	Thiruvananthapuram – Kollam - Kayamkulam, Thiruvananthapuram – Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram-Punalur-Erumeli via Nemom, Nedumangad
Platforms	5
Connections	Taxi Stand,Pre paid Auto service, Thiruvananthapuram Central bus station of the KSRTC
Construction
Structure type	Standard (on ground station)
Parking	Available
Other information
Status	Functioning
Station code	TVC
Zone(s)	Southern Railway
Division(s)	Thiruvananthapuram Railway division
History
Opened	4 November 1931
Electrified	Yes
Traffic
Passengers	38,918 per day[1]

Thiruvananthapuram Central 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 stations in Kerala in terms of passenger movement and an important rail hub in Southern Railway.^[2] It is one of profitable stations under Southern Railway. The building of the railway station is one of the landmarks of Thiruvananthapuram. Thiruvananthapuram Central is also a terminating point for the proposed Chennai - Bangalore - Thiruvananthapuram High Speed Rail (HSR) corridor and the proposed Thiruvananthapuram - Mangalore High Speed Rail corridor. The railway station is located opposite to Central Bus Station Thiruvananthapuram at Thampanoor.

Trains from here connect the city of Thiruvananthapuram to major cities of India. This station is also noted for a whole range of amenities available within the premises. The station has book-shops, restaurants, accommodation and Internet browsing centers. A second satellite station was opened in 2005 at Kochuveli called the Kochuveli Railway Station, near the International Airport. Thiruvananthapuram is the first major city from south along the longest train routes in India, the Kanyakumari-Thiruvananthapuram-Dibrugarh Vivek Express route and the Kanyakumari-Thiruvananthapuram-Jammu Tawi Himsagar Express route. A second terminal (south Terminal) was opened in 2004 to handle passenger traffic and later a West Terminal in 2007. To reduce traffic, the Central Railway Station has 18 railway tracks.

Railways in Kerala cities
Cities & connected years 1861 - Kozhikode 1898 - Palakkad 1902 - Kochi 1902 - Thrissur 1904 - Kollam 1907 - Kannur 1907 - Kasargod 1918 - Thiruvananthapuram 1958 - Kottayam 1989 - Alappuzha
Railway lines Kundala Valley Railway Kollam–Sengottai branch line Ernakulam-Kayamkulam coastal railway line Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram trunk line Shoranur–Cochin Harbour section Jolarpettai–Shoranur line Shoranur–Mangalore section Guruvayur–Thrissur spur line Nilambur–Shoranur railway line

.^[3]

Stations southwards from Thiruvananthapuram Central
Legend
Kochuveli Pettah TVC Nemam Balaramapuram Neyyattinkara Amaravila H. Dhanuvachapuram H. Parassala State Border Kulitthurai West H. Kulitthurai Palliyadi H. Eraniel Virani Alur H. Nagercoil Town Nagercoil Junction Suchindram Agastiswaram Tanarakulam Kanniyakumari

History

Thiruvananthapuram station

Interior of the station

Trains in Thiruvananthapuram Central Station

Train care centre

Shunting Yard of Thiruvananthapuram Central

The Madras-Quilon line was extended to the capital of the Princely State of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram and was opened on 4 January 1918. The line then terminated at Chakka, which was the trading centre of Thiruvananthapuram then. M.E. Watts, Dewan of the erstwhile Travancore, took the initiative to extend the railway line to the heart of the city. The terminus was shifted to current location Thiruvananthapuram Central Thampanoor on 1931. The Thiruvananthapuram Central station building was built during the reign of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the Maharani of Travancore, and inaugurated on 4 November 1931. No bricks were used for the construction of this station building; it was built completely with rock masonry.^[4] Thiruvananthapuram was a branch line station but the Maharani built it at par with the counterparts in the major cities of India.The station was built to handle two departures per day in 1931 and had only one platform in the beginning.

Layout

This station has 5 platforms to handle long and short distance trains and a proposal to build additional 11 platforms in pipeline.Then the number of platforms will increase to 16. The Thiruvananthapuram railway station has two entrances. The main entrance is opposite to Central Bus Station Thiruvananthapuram and eastern entrance is on Power House road.The train care centre functions adjacent to eastern side entrance.Nemom and Kochuveli Railway stations are announced in railway budget as satellite terminals to Thiruvananthapuram Central. Kochuveli satellite terminal has started functioning with trains originating from here.

Facilities

Thiruvananthapuram 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.^[5]

• Computerised Reservation Ticket Center
• Computerised Unreserved Ticket Center
• AC & Non AC Passenger Waiting Center
• Cloak Room
• Escalators
• Rest Room
• Restaurants
• Pre Paid Parking Facility
• Pre Paid Auto
• X Ray Luggage Scanner
• Parcel Booking Office
• Foot over bridge
• Public Addressing System
• Medical Shop
• Book Stall
• Railway Enquiry
• ATM
• Automatic Ticket Vending Machine
• elavators
• subway

The station handles over 300,000 passengers daily.^[6]

Services

Express Trains from Thiruvananthapuram Central

Some of the major trains originating from the station.

Passenger Trains starting from Thiruvananthapuram Central

Express Trains Passing through Thiruvananthapuram Central

• Vivek Express is the longest running passenger train in Indian Railways

Passenger Trains passing through Thiruvananthapuram Central

Future expansion plans

It was announced in railway budget to convert Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station into world-class standards. The foundation stone for expansion and modernisation of station was laid by Former Union Minister for Railways, Lalu Prasad in December 2006. Tenders have been invited for carrying out feasibility studies for this proposed project. More than ₹1000 million (US$15 million) is needed for first phase of this project.^[7]

A new complex of 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 passenger terminal at Nemom is announced in rail budget and yet to begin work. It is estimated that only a consortium would be able to take up expansion project of Thiruvananthapuram Central, since the project is a massive one.^[8]

Feasibility study for Chennai-Bangalore-Thiruvananthapuram High speed rail corridor ongoing and is being planned along with other few corridors in country.

See also

• Thiruvananthapuram railway division
• Southern Railway zone
• Railway station layout
• Punalur

References

External links

• Indian Railways

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