South Indian Railway

South Indian Railway
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Line of route
Jalarpet to Mangalore
Gauge / mileage
Metre gauge	1123 miles (1905)
Timeline
1872	Formed from merger of Carnatic Railway and Great Southern of India Railway
1874	Renamed South Indian Railway
1908	Jalarpet to Mangalore transferred from Madras Railway. Katpadi section transferred to Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway.
Key locations
Presidency	Madras
Stations	Trichinopoly
System agency
	Own agency
How to interpret this infobox

South Indian Railway
South Indian Railway device
System timeline
1891	SIR re-formed to work line now owned by State
1944	Management of system taken over by State
Constituent companies / lines
1891	South Indian Railway
	Karaikkal-Peralam Railway
	Pondicherry Railway
	Tanjore District Board Railway
	Tinnevelly-Quilon Railway
Key locations
Headquarters	Trichinopoly
Workshops	Golden Rock
Major Stations
Successor system / organisation
1951	Southern Railway (IR zone)
System mileage
Broad gauge	559 miles (1943)
Metre gauge	1353 miles (1905) 1483 miles (1943)
Associated auxiliary force
South Indian Railway Battalion
How to interpret this infobox

The South Indian Railway (SIR) was the new name applied in 1874 to the merged undertakings of the Carnatic Railway and the Great Southern of India Railway.

History

In 1872, the Carnatic Railway merged with the Great Southern of India Railway. In 1874, the merged companies were renamed the South Indian Railway. During the 1870s the existing broad gauge lines were converted to metre gauge.

Ownership of the SIR and other lines passed to the Government of India(GoI) on 31 December 1890 and a new company was formed to work the system so created under contract; this contract was extended in 1909. The year previously (1908), the Jalarpet to Mangalore broad gauge section had been transferred to the SIR from the Madras Railway. In turn, the Katpadi section was relinquished and became part of the newly formed Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway.

On 1 April 1944, the GoI took over direct control of the SIR.

In 1951, the SIR became a constituent part of Southern Railway, a zone of Indian Railways.

SIR Branch Lines and extensions

• Pamban Branch Railway, opened 1914. SIR branchline between India and Island of Rameswaram, Ceylon
• Villupuram-Dharmavaram Railway, opened before 1901. A branch of SIR
• Villupuram-Guntakal Railway, opened 1890. Part of SIR network
• Villupuram-Nellore Railway, opened before 1891. State Railway, included with SIR , 1891
• Villupuram-Tiruvanamalai Railway, opened before 1891. State Railway, included with SIR , 1891

Railways absorbed into SIR

• Carnatic Railway. Took over Indian Tramway, 1870; merged with Great Southern of India to form SIR , 1872
  • Indian Tramway Co., opened 1865. Formerly Arakkonam-Conjeevaram Tramway; Failed in 1870 and taken over by Carniatic Rly merged finally SIR..
• Great Southern of India Railway, opened 1861. Merged with Carnatic Rly Company to form SIR ; 1872
  • Karaikkal-Peralam Railway, opened 1898. Financed by French Govt, constructed by Great Southern of India Railway; later absorbed into SIR

Lines worked by SIR at some time

• Cuddapah-Nellore Railway, opened before 1887. Worked by SIR linking Vijayawada and Chennai, extended 1890
• Mayavaram Mutupet Railway, opened 1890. Worked by SIR , 1897
• Nilgiri Mountain Railway, opened 1899. Worked by Madras Railway Co to 1907; then worked by SIR ; line extended, 1908
• Podanur-Pollachi Railway, opened 1905. District Board owned; worked by SIR as part of Metre gauge section network.
• Pondicherry Railway, opened 1879. French enclave; railway worked by SIR
• Salem-Metur-Dam Railway. Link railway to SIR main line at Salem from Metur Dam; worked by SIR , 1933
• Shoranur-Cochin Railway. Privately funded, opened in 1902. Worked by SIR , 1908
  • Cochin Harbour Extension Railway, opened 1938. Part of Shoranur-Cochin Railway; worked by SIR
• Shoranur-Nalambur Railway, opened 1927. Worked by SIR , 1933
• Suramangalam-Salem Railway. District Board owned, opened 1917-18, worked by SIR
• Tanjore District Board Railway. Formed 1900 by raising funds to construct feeder line; worked by SIR
• Tinnevelly-Quilon Railway.'British Section' opened 1902, worked by SIR, 50 miles from Tinnevelly to frontier of Travancore State. 'Indian State Section' opened 1903, worked by SIR, 58 miles from frontier through Travancore State to Quillon
• Tinnevelly-Tiruchendur Railway. Constructed by District Board after 1908 and worked by SIR
• Vriddhachalam-Cuddalore Railway, opened c.1880. Worked by SIR , 1933

Records

The following are held in the India Office Records at the British Library:

• L/AG/46/18/1-4 : contracts of employment, 1891-1940 (index not complete).

The above is indexed in:

• Z/L/AG/46 : Index to UK Appointments to Indian Railways, 1849-1925.

External Links

• Sections on Salem - Vriddhachalam Railway and Salem - Mettar Railway from Madras Distict Gazetteer of Salem (pub 1932) Archive.org

The engineering staff of the SIR worksheds in Trichinopoly in the 1920s.