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Salem railway division is one of the six railway divisions under the jurisdiction 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 ...
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 ...
. Its headquarters is at
Salem, Tamil Nadu Salem () is a major city in Salem district, located on the banks of the Thirumanimutharu river in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu surrounded by mountains. Salem is the List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, fifth largest urban agglomerati ...
.


History

Salem Railway Division is the newest division of the
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 ...
of
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 ...
. It was carved out of the
Palakkad railway division Palakkad railway division (formerly ''Olavakkod railway division'') is one of the six administrative divisions of the Southern Railway zone of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at city of Palakkad, Kerala. It is the smallest railway divisi ...
and Tiruchirappalli railway division. It was inaugurated on 14 November 2006 in the presence of Arjun Singh and the then chief minister of
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 ...
, M. Karunanidhi.


Important railway stations

Coimbatore junction is the busiest railway station in this division and accounts for 45% of the revenues. Coimbatore junction is classified under NSG-2 and it has 35,000 footfall per day. Salem,
Erode Erode (; īrōṭu), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Kaveri river and is surrounded by the Western Ghats. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. It is the administrativ ...
and
Karur Karur () is a municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Karur district and is administered by the Karur Municipal Cor ...
are the other important junctions, while Erode handles most of the crew change in the route. Tiruppur is an important station in Salem division that handles a significant volume of agricultural commodities, textile products and machinery, which contribute an abundant profit in the freight segment.


Routes

Salem division has its jurisdiction entirely in the state of
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 covers 15 districts in
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 ...
and has a total route length of , Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Karur and Namakkal being the important district Headquarters. Salem division jurisdiction includes the following: * Tiruppattur to Irugur * Irugur to Podanur * Irugur to Coimbatore North Junction * Mettupalayam to Podanur Junction * Magnesite Junction to Mettur Dam * Mettupalayam to
Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...
(Meter Gauge) *
Erode Erode (; īrōṭu), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Kaveri river and is surrounded by the Western Ghats. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. It is the administrativ ...
to Tiruchirappalli Fort (Excluded) * Salem to Dindigul (Excluded) * Salem to Virudhachalam (Excluded)


Loco Shed

There is a Diesel as well as an Electric Loco shed in Erode. Both the loco sheds provide locomotives to Southern Railways, Konkan Railways, South Western Railways and South Central Railways. One Meter Gauge loco shed is situated at Coonoor to facilitate Nilgiri Mountain Railway. * Diesel Locomotive Shed, Erode has been assessed as the best Diesel Loco shed in
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 ...
during the tenure of 2005–2006 and 2009–2010. The shed has been internationally certified with ISO 9001:2000 for ''Quality Management System'' in March 2004 and ISO 14001:2004 for ''Environmental Management System'' in September 2004 for its standards. A diesel loco belonging to shed was awarded "''Black Beauty Queen''", during the inaugural annual best loco competition among
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 ...
outmatching other sheds viz., Tondiarpet, Ernakulam and Golden Rock, as about 15 parameters were considered for the selection. It has one of the largest fleet of WDM-3D, WDG-3A and WDM-3A. Around 2014, Erode Diesel shed started to receive the High horse power EMD locomotives apart from the conventional Alco locomotives.
WDG-4 The Indian locomotive class WDG-4 (EMD GT46MAC) is a type of six-axle ( Co-Co) freight-hauling diesel–electric locomotive with AC electric transmission designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Diesel in 1997–1998 for Indian Railways, where ...
was initial HHP loco allotted and WDP4D variants were allocated later on. Around 2019, it started to home the WAG variant electric locos which are for freight operations and in 2020, it received WAP-1 locomotive transferred from
Electric Loco Shed, Arakkonam Electric Loco Shed, Arakkonam is a motive power depot performing locomotive maintenance and repair facility for electric locomotives of the Indian Railways, located at Arakkonam, Arrakkonam on the MGR Chennai Central – KSR Bengaluru section o ...
. Apart from the Mainline service locomotives, plenty of shunting locomotives are maintained as well. Now Erode Diesel Locomotive shed houses WAP4, WAG5 and WAG7. * Electric Locomotive Shed, Erode is one of the premier sheds in Indian Railways, it was having the largest fleet of WAP-4 till 2017, eventually few were transferred to
Electric Loco Shed, Arakkonam Electric Loco Shed, Arakkonam is a motive power depot performing locomotive maintenance and repair facility for electric locomotives of the Indian Railways, located at Arakkonam, Arrakkonam on the MGR Chennai Central – KSR Bengaluru section o ...
. In October 2017, Erode received first two 3-phase AC locos of the class
WAP-7 The Indian locomotive class WAP-7 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1999 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic ...
from Electric Loco Shed, Royapuram. In July 2020, Erode was allocated with four
WAG-9 The Indian locomotive class WAG-9 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1995 by ABB for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Goods traffic (G), 9th generation (9) locomotiv ...
locomotives, making it the first shed in
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 ...
to home WAG-9 locomotive. * The Meter gauge loco shed at Coonoor is the place where the steam and diesel locomotives for Nilgiri Mountain Railway are serviced, maintained and fueled for their trips. Coal-fired or Oil-fired X-Class Rack-and-Pinion steam engines are homed here along with YDM-4 class.


Pit lines

The pit lines for maintenance of passenger coaches are at Coimbatore, Erode, Mettupalayam and Coonoor. * Coimbatore has two pit lines, both can handle 24 coach trains. * Erode has two pit lines, one can handle 17 coaches and other can handle ten coaches. An additional pitline for handling long-distance trains is nearing completion. * Mettupalayam has three pit lines: Two broad-gauge pit lines and one meter-gauge. The lone meter-gauge pit line is capable of handling four coaches. Among the two broad-gauge pit lines, one can handle seven coaches and other pit line has the capacity of six coaches. * Coonoor has one meter-gauge pit line which can handle four coaches.


Trains handled

Salem division handles many long-distance and interstate trains. Coimbatore coaching complex is the most important in Salem division and it is congested due to the huge volume of trains. * Cheran Superfast Express, Chemmozhi Express, Intercity Express, Tirupati Express, Uday Express, Thiruvananthapuram Mail, Mayiladuthurai Jan Shatabdi Express, Nagercoil Express, Vande Bharat Express are maintained at Coimbatore coaching depot. Apart from this Coimbatore Jaipur Express and Hisar Coimbatore Express belonging to North Western Railway gets their secondary maintenance. * Erode Coaching depot maintains Yercaud Express and Chennai Hyderabad Express. Besides these two express trains, few more passenger trains are handled at Erode. * Toy trains plying in Nilgiri Mountain Railway are maintained at Coonoor and Mettupalayam.


Tourism

The famous Nilgiri Mountain Railway heritage line is under Salem division. The scenic line starts from Mettupalayam and ends at Ooty. The section from Mettupalayam to Coonoor is hauled by a Steam locomotive. A YDM-4 Diesel engine is attached at Coonoor for the further journey till Ooty. Between Mettupalayam and Coonoor, the line uses the Abt rack and pinion system to climb the steep
gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...
. The NMR is the only
rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...
in India. The average gradient in this rack section is 1 in 24.5 (4.08%), with a maximum of 1 in 12 (8.33%). Even though the NMR supplies networked computerized ticketing systems for onward journeys, it still issues Edmondson style manual tickets for the Udhagamandalam-Mettupalayam journey to preserve its 'World Heritage Site' status. Ticket booking is similar to conventional trains and can be done via the Indian Railway website. It is advisable to book tickets well in advance, especially during peak season.


Medical facilities

The medical department comprises two sub Divisional hospitals – Erode and Podanur. It also four Health Units at Coonoor, Mettupalayam, Salem and Karur. At present proposals have gone to Railway Board for approval of a multi specialty sub divisional hospital at Erode.


Projects and development

It is one of the 73 stations in Tamil Nadu to be named for upgradation under ''Amrit Bharat Station Scheme'' of Indian Railways. 45 crore rupees have been allocated for the renovation work of Salem railway station under the Amrit Bharat scheme.


Facts

* Southern Railway's first Anaconda freight train was operated by Salem division from Erode Junction to Jolarpettai Junction. * India's first Uday Express was inaugurated at Coimbatore. * Salem division has its entire Broad Gauge line electrified. * Chemmozhi express in Coimbatore coach care is completely maintained by women. * It has the only hill railway tourist toy train present in entire South India.


References

{{Zonal headquarters and divisions of Indian Railways Southern Railway zone Rail transport in Tamil Nadu Divisions of Indian Railways