Thiruvananthapuram Central (station code: TVC,) is an NSG–2 category

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in Thiruvananthapuram 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 major

that serves the city of

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

, the capital of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. It is Kerala's busiest railway station. The station building, a landmark of the city, is located in

Thampanoor Thampanoor is the geographic center (CBD) of the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. The busiest railway station of the state in terms of daily passengers, Thiruvananthapuram Central (Station Code: TVC), is located at Thampanoor. It caters an av ...

opposite the central bus stand. Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station is the highest profit earning railway station in Kerala and the most crowded and busiest railway station in Kerala. Most high priority and superfast express trains originate from here like TVC Rajdhani Express. A number of long-distance trains depart from Thiruvananthapuram Central. Thiruvananthapuram is the first tier-2 city in the south along India's longest train routes: the

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 ...

–

Dibrugarh Dibrugarh () is a city in the Indian state of Assam, located 435 kms east of the state capital Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of the Dibrugarh district in Upper Assam. Dibrugarh also serves as the headquarters of the Sonowal Kach ...

Vivek Express route and the Kanyakumari–Thiruvananthapuram–

Jammu Tawi Jammu Tawi railway station (station code: JAT) is a railway station in the city of Jammu in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Background Jammu Tawi is the largest railway station in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a major railhead f ...

–

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra railway station (station code: SVDK) is a railway station on the Jammu Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Railway Link in Reasi district in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It mainly serves for the town of ...

Himsagar Express The 16317 / 16318 Himsagar Express is a weekly Express train of the Indian Railways running between India's southern most operational railway station of Kanyakumari to India's Northern Most Operational and connected railway station(as of March 2 ...

route. A second terminal (the South Terminal) was opened in 2004 to handle passenger traffic, and the West Terminal opened in 2007. To reduce congestion, the station has 16 tracks.

History

The Madras–Quilon line was extended to Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the princely state of

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

, and was opened on 4 January 1918. The line terminated at Chackai, the trading centre of Thiruvananthapuram. M. E. Watts,

dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

of Travancore, extended the rail line to the heart of the city. The terminus was moved to its present location at Thiruvananthapuram Central in 1931. The station was built during the reign of

Sethu Lakshmi Bayi Pooradam Thirunal Sethu Lakshmi Bayi CI (5 November 1895– 22 February 1985) was the monarch, though designated as the Regent due to British policy, of the Kingdom of Travancore in southern India between 1924 and 1931. She, along with her yo ...

, the

maharani Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However, in late ancient India ...

of Travancore, and was inaugurated on 4 November 1931. No bricks were used for the station's construction; it was built with rock masonry. Thiruvananthapuram was a branch-line station, but the maharani built it on a par with its counterparts in India's major cities. The station was built to handle two departures per day in 1931, and had one platform. The single-line platform continued until the 1970s; the extended platform accommodated trains as a metre-gauge line until the gauge conversion. The platform could accommodate two trains at a time.

Layout

The station has five platforms to handle long and short-distance trains, and two entrances. The main entrance is opposite the central bus station, and the west entrance is on Power House Road. The train-care centre is adjacent to this entrance. The

Nemom Nemom is a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. It is surrounded by Thirumala in the north, Malayinkeezhu in the north-east, Balaramapuram in the south-east, Kovalam in the south and Thiruvallam in the west. Nem ...

and stations were announced in the railway budget as satellite terminals of Thiruvananthapuram Central. The Kochuveli satellite terminal has begun operation with trains originating from Thiruvananthapuram Central.

Security

Thiruvananthapuram Central was Kerala's first station to install video surveillance. A networked electronic surveillance system was installed by the

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) to improve security and monitor passengers arriving at the station.

Future plans

The conversion of Thiruvananthapuram Central to world-class standards was announced in the railway budget. Former Union Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad laid the foundation stone for the station's expansion and modernization in December 2006. Tenders were invited for feasibility studies for the project. More than was needed for the first phase of this project. A new complex will be built, covering , and modern facilities (including an office and commercial complex) are planned. A proposed passenger terminal at

was announced in the rail budget, but work has not yet begun. It is estimated that a consortium would be needed for the Thiruvananthapuram Central expansion, due to the size of the project.

Major trains

Incident

A shunting engine trailed through at point 57A near the

relay interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. In North America, a set of signalling appliances and tracks inter ...

cabin and damaged the point and

signal A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

gears in the Thiruvananthapuram Central

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

in 2018. There were no casualties.

Gallery

File:Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station.jpg, The station, alt=Front of the station File:Inside view of Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station.jpg, Trackside, alt=Looking down a platform as a train pulls in File:Train entering Thiruvananthapuram Central.jpg, Train entering the station, alt=A red train, seen from the front File:Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station board.jpg, Signage, alt=Sign in three languages

References

External links

Indian Railways
{{Kerala transit Railway stations in India opened in 1931 Railway stations in Thiruvananthapuram Railway centrals in India Thiruvananthapuram railway division