Manamadurai Junction railway station (station code: MNM) is an NSG–5 category Indian railway junction station in

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 making it the largest railway division of the Southern Railways. Pr ...

Southern Railway zone Southern Railway (SR) is one of the eighteen zones of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Chennai and operates across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Puducherry. The origin of the Southern Rai ...

. It serves the city of

Manamadurai Manamadurai is a Municipality Town in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Situated 58 kilometres away from the heart of Madurai on the Cochin - Dhanushkodi National Highway. It is the 4th Largest Urban Agglomeration in the Siva ...

, located in

Sivaganga district Sivaganga District is one of the 38 districts (an administrative district) in Tamil Nadu state, India. This district was formed on 15 March 1985 by trifurcation of Ramanathapuram district into Ramanathapuram district, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunaga ...

of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. It is the one among the two major railway junctions in

and the other major one is

Karaikudi Junction Karaikkudi Junction (station code: KKDI) is an NSG–4 category railway station located in Karaikudi in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the principle rail-head in the city that serves it's metropolitan area, falling under the jurisdicti ...

. Manamadurai junction is the only four branched junction in the district. It has totally 5 platforms, in which only 3 are functioning and last two are used for docking unscheduled and freight trains.

History

This station was constructed as a part of the Madurai Rameswaram Branch Railway line, built in

Colonial India Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during and after the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spice trade, spices. The search for ...

in 1902. This line was mainly constructed to connect the Indian province with Ceylon Province. Later, after the annexation of Sivagangai Estate, a 20 km branch line was constructed between

and

Sivaganga Sivaganga () is the City and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is known for the 16th-century Sivagangai Fort, located in City Centre. Inside the fort, the Rajarajeshwari Amman Temple features many orn ...

which converted this station into a railway junction and became the first junction in the Ramnad region. Pamban became a junction when a 17 km branch line was built between Pamban and

Dhanushkodi Dhanushkodi is an abandoned town at the south-eastern tip of Pamban Island of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is south-east of Pamban and is about west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The town was destroyed during the 1964 Rameswaram cy ...

; after the

1964 rameswaram cyclone The 1964 Rameswaram cyclone (also known as the Dhanushkodi cyclone) was regarded as one of the most powerful storms on record to ever strike India. The system was first identified as an area of low pressure over the Andaman Sea on December 15 ...

, that branch line was closed. After India gained independence, a new railway line was constructed between Manamadurai and

Virudhunagar Virudhunagar is a city and the administrative headquarter of the Virudhunagar district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located southwest of the state capital Chennai and south of Madurai. Virudhunagar emerged as an important trade c ...

under the rule of

Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963. He also served as the pr ...

. This was the first railway line in Tamil Nadu to be built after Indian Independence.

Location and layout

Manamadurai Junction is located close to its district headquarters, Sivagangai, which is 20 km away; it is 50 km away from its railway divisional headquarters Madurai. This railway junction has 6 railway tracks and 5 platforms, usually crowded in the morning and night. It has the second-largest curve. The junction connects with some of the major Railheads like

Tiruchirapalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of Ta ...

Karaikudi Karaikudi is the largest city of Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the centre of the Karaikudi Metropolitan Area, the 21st largest urban Agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of the area ...

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

and

Rameswaram Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about from ...

. Its facilities include a clean waiting hall, food, large parking space,

Railway Protection Force The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is an armed police force of the Union under the Ministry of Railways, Government of India. The force was established by the RPF Act, 1957, enacted by the Indian Parliament for "the better protection and secur ...

(RPF) police station, and Railway Hospital facilities within the station complex premise. A retiring room, railway canteen, and adequate restrooms are also available at this junction. The nearby bus stand is well connected with the Cochin - Rameswaram Interstate Corridor National Highway (NH45), which is also an

Asian Highway Network The Asian Highway Network (AH), also known as the Great Asian Highway, is a cooperative project among countries in Asia and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to improve their connectivity via hig ...

which is numbered

AH43 Asian Highway 43 (AH43) is a route of the Asian Highway Network, running from Asian Highway 1 in Agra, India to Matara in Sri Lanka.Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific2003 Asian Highway Handbook, 2003, page 98 Route It pas ...

, which gives round-the-clock bus connectivity to various places nearby. There is also a goods terminal that generates huge revenue for the entire Madurai railway division. Mostly the goods handled here are loading and sending

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

to various parts of India. The nearby SIDCO and SIPCOT (industrial complex area by the government of Tamil Nadu) also contribute considerable profit to this junction. Goods unloaded here include some civil supplies for the Sivagangai district where it is located and various raw materials for those industries present near Sivagangai and Manamadurai regions.

Lines and sections

The major lines of Manamadurai Junction are * Madurai - Rameswaram Line * Virudhunagar - Manamadurai line * Manamadurai - Karaikudi line * Sengottai - Chennai Egmore line (Via: Virudhunagar) * Rameswaram - Chennai Egmore line (Via: Karaikudi, Chord line) * Rameswaram - Chennai Egmore line (Via: Karaikudi, Tiruchirapalli, Tanjore, Mayiladuthurai, Chidambaram) * Rameswaram- Chennai Egmore line (Via: Karaikud, Tiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai) * Rameswaram - Tiruchirapalli line

Performance and earnings

For the FY 2022–23, the annual earnings of the station was and daily earnings was . For the same financial year, the annual passenger count was 388,500 and daily count was 1,064. While, the footfall per day was recorded as 2,067.

Trains operated

It is a major stopping for The following trains:

Daily running

Some of the daily running trains include * Madurai Rameswaram Passenger *

- Karaikudi -

DEMU A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

Express * Rameswaram - Chennai Egmore (Sethu Superfast Express) * Rameswaram - Chennai Egmore (Boat Mail Express) * Rameswaram - Tambaram (Pamban Express)

Weekly/ Multi weekly trains

* Sengottai - Chennai Egmore (Silambu Superfast Express) * Kanniyakumari - Rameswaram Express * Puducherry - Kanniyakumari Express * Rameswaram - Ayodhya Cantt. (Shraddha Setu Express) * Rameswaram - okha Express * Rameswaram - Ajmer Humsafar Express * Rameswaram - Tirupati Express (Meenakshi Express) * Rameswaram - Coimbatore Express * Rameswaram - Bhubaneswar Express * Rameswaram - SSS Hubali junction Express * Velankanni - Ernakulam jn. Express * Rameswaram - Firozpur Cantt. Humsafar Express * Rameswaram - Banaras SF Express *

Special docking

All the long expresses and superfast expresses from other divisions of Indian Railways that run towards Rameswaram are docked in the non-functioning 4th and 5th platforms of Manamadurai junction for water filling and Rake maintenance. Trains like Ayodhya Rameswaram exp, Okha Rameswaram Exp, etc. make a technical dock at this station for water filling and rake maintenance. And also the station is home for 3 Track maintenance vehicles of Madurai Subdivision. Also the Madurai Junction–Bengaluru Cantonment Vande Bharat Express is docked here regularly due to insufficient place in Madurai Junction.

References

{{Railway stations in Tamil Nadu Railway stations in India opened in 1902 Madurai railway division Railway stations in Sivaganga district Railway junction stations in Tamil Nadu