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Madras Railway – Lines owned and worked

a subsection of the Madras Railway (MR) page

The Madras Railway(MR) owned and operated an extensive network of railways of broad gauge(BG) lines.

The MR contract expired on 31 Dec 1907, at this point the BG route mileage was 1449 miles(2331km)

• From 1 Jan 1908 the Jalarpet-Mangalore Mainline section, being 417 miles(671km), was transferred from MR to the South Indian Railway.
• The remaining BG lines, 1032 miles(1660km) were taken over by the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway(M&SMR)

The listings below are generally based on the “Administration Report on Railways 1918” with page references stated.

BG Lines - owned and worked by Madras Railway (MR)

• Madras-Jalapet SW Mainline. Opened from Veyasarpandy (2 miles from Madras City) to Arkonam junction and Walajah Road (Arcot), opened 1856; extended via Katpadi,Gudiyattam, Ambur, Vaniyaambadi reaching Jalarpet Junction, 1860. The 2 mile(3.2km) link to Madras City opened 1873. Total 132 miles(212km) .
  • Rayauram Branch Line. Veyasarpandy (2 miles from Madras City) to Rayauram, 2 miles(3.2km) opened 1856; extended to Beach 1 mile, 1900 and Washermenpet to Madras Basin Bridge, 1 mile(1.6km), 1907 .
  • Ranipet Branch Line. Walajah Road (Arcot) branchline linking Ranipet to mainline 4 miles(6.5km), 1899 .
  • Bangalore Branch Line. Jalarpet Junction via Bowringpet to Bangalore Cantonment, 1864; extended a further 3 miles to Bangalore City, 1882. Total 87 miles(140km) ..
• Arkonam-Raichur NW Mainline. Arkonam Junction via Nagari, Puttur to Renigunta, 1862; extended via Reddipalle to Cuddapah, 1865; extended via Muddanuru, Tadpatri, Gooty, Tungabhadra to Raichur, 1871. Total 308 miles(496km) ) .
• Madras-Waltair NE Mainline. Washermonpet (Northern Madras) to Gudor, 1896-99; Gudor to Nellore, constructed by SIR as MG 1888, handed over to MR and converted to BG 1899; Nellore via Kistna Canal to Bezwada, 1897-98; Bezwada[(later named Vijayawada) to Waltair was part of East Coast State Railway and passed to MR in 1901, the section Kovvur, Rajahmundry, Samalkot Junction had been opened in 1893 and had reached Waltair in 1900. Washermonpet (Northern Madras) was connected Madras Basin Bridge in 1907 where it joined the ‘Rayauram Branch Line’ via Veyasarpandy to Madras City. Total 483 miles(777km) .
  • Samalkot Junction-Cocanada Branch Line. Samalkot Junction to Cocanada, 10 miles(16km), opened 1893 , a branch from the former SMR line to Cocanada Port, important for coconut export s, hence name. .
  • Waltair-Vizagapatam Branch Line, also known as the . From Waltair Station to the town of Visakhapatam, 2.2 miles(3.2km) .
• Jalarpet-Mangalore Mainline. Constructed, owned and worked by MR up to 31 Dec 1907, then transferred to SIR. Jalarpet to Salem via Morappur, opened 1860-61; extended via Sankaridrug and Erode Junction (connection with MG SIR network) reaching Kadalundi in 1861-62, via Podanur Junction, Palakkad Junction(Olavakode) , Pattambi, Kuttippuram and Tirur. The line was extended to Calicut in 1888. The Calicut-Azikhal extension via Badagara, Tellicherry, Cannanore opened 1901-04; and the *Azikhal-Mangalore reached Mangalore by 1907 via Hosdrug, Kasaragod and Kumbla. The total line distance was being 417 miles(671km) .
  • Mettupalaiyam Branch Line. Constructed, owned and worked by MR up to 31 Dec 1907, then transferred to SIR. Podanor Junction to Coimbatore and Mettupalaiyam. Opened 1873, 26 miles(41km) ) .
  • Palghat Branch Line. Palakkad Junction(Olavakode) to Palghat. Constructed, owned and worked by MR up to 31 Dec 1907, then transferred to SIR. Opened 1888, 2.5 miles(4km) .

BG Railways worked by Madras Railway

• Kolar Gold Fields Railway opened 1894. BG Branch railway 10miles (16km) long, constructed by the Princely Mysore State Durbar to provide facilities for the gold-fields at Marikuppam. Connecting at Chikballapur on the MR ‘Bangalore Branch Line’ and onward to the MR 'Madras-Jalapet SW Mainline'. Worked by MR, then in 1908 by M&SMR .

NG Railways worked by Madras Railway

• Morappur-Dharmapuri-Hosur Railway 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG)Government owned line opened 1906. A famine protection line to Dharmapur, 18 miles(29km), worked by MR, then by South Indian Railway(SIR) from 1 Jan 1908; extended to Hosur 1913 and renamed Morappur-Hosur Railway with a total of 73 miles(117km) .
• Tirupattur-Krishnagiri Railway 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG)Government owned line opened 1905. A famine protection line to Krishnagiri, 25 miles(40km), worked by MR, then by South Indian Railway(SIR) from 1 Jan 1908 .