Puducherry railway station (station code: PDY) is an NSG–4 category Indian railway station in Tiruchirappalli railway division of

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 is a railway terminus of the Villupuram–Pondicherry branch line serving the city of

Pondicherry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...

, headquarter of Puducherry Union territory

History

The Puducherry railway line is one of the oldest rail link in India and it was constructed in the year 1879 by the Puducherry Railway Company during the period of French and British rule in India. Under the supervision of South Indian Railway with the object of connecting the town and the port of Puducherry with South India and to develop the resources of the Puducherry Territory, the rail link between Puducherry and Villupuram has been established. Even though there was total enmity between the then Super Powers—the French and the English—when it came to economic development they had a very good understanding and the Puducherry Railway system was a good example of it. The station is operated by the

of the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

and comes under the Tiruchirapalli railway division. This Division may be the only Division in the world maintaining the Railways developed by both the British and the French empires. It has daily trains connecting the city with

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, villuppuram and Tirupathi apart from non-daily trains towards prime cities including

Mangaluru Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the stat ...

kanyakumari Kanyakumari (Tamil; / kəɳjɑkʊmɑɾiː/; referring to Devi Kanya Kumari, officially known as Kanniyakumari, formerly known as Cape Comorin) is a town and a municipality in Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the ...

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

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New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, Bhubaneshwar and

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

via Villupuram.

Location and layout

The Puducherry railway station is located on Subbiah Salai and is very close to several tourist spots and important locations in the city such as the Main Bus Stand (), Aurobindo Ashram (), Chief Secretariat Building (), and Puducherry Airport (). There are 4 platforms in the station for passenger traffic and one for the goods service which is sandwiched between platform 1. There have also been proposals for constructing 2 pit lanes in the station for train maintenance. The station underwent a major revamp in 2008 following the launch of new trains connecting it to various destinations. currently all the rakes of trains which are operated from this station are being maintained in villupuram junction railway station

References

External links

* {{Railway stations in Puducherry , state=collapsed Trichy railway division Railway stations in India opened in 1879 Railway stations in Puducherry district Buildings and structures in Pondicherry (city) Railway terminus in India