South Indian Railway

South Indian Railway
[[Image:|150px| ]]
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

South Indian Railway

South Indian Railway Map 1909, north section

South Indian Railway Map 1909, south section

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 (GCSR)and initially administered from Negapatam; and after 1865 from the ‘General Office Building’ at Trichinopoly .

History

On 1st July 1874 the Great Southern of India Railway Company (GSIR) and the Carnatic Railway, were amalgamated under the title of the South Indian Railway.

At the time of amalgamation the GSIR had constructed a broad gauge(BG) line from Negapatam to Trichinopoly and on to Erode where it connected to the Madras Railway and the Carnatic Railway had constructed a metre gauge(MG) line from Arkonam Junction to Conjeeveram .

From 1875 the originally constructed BG lines were converted to MG in order to have a seamless flow of traffic , since all the other lines around Trichinopoly were MG. The Negapatam to Trichinopoly section converted in 1875 and to Erode by the end of 1879 .

The construction of the Pondicherry Railway in French territory by the SIR commenced in 1878 simultaneously with a SIR branch, so when opened in 1879 connected Pondicherry to the SIR mainline at Villupuram. The line was maintained and worked by the SIR under the management of the SIR Agent which had remained at the original Negapatam. The joint Agent finally moved to Trichinopoly in 1880 .

Ownership of the SIR and other lines passed to the Government of India(GoI) on 31 December 1890 and a new company, ‘ The South Indian Railway Company Limited’ was formed to work the system so created under contract; this contract was extended in 1909.

The year previously (1 Jan 1908), the Jalarpet to Mangalore broad gauge section had been transferred to the SIR from the Madras Railway. In turn, the Metre gauge 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 Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Workshops

• 1860, Negapatam workshops established by the Great Southern of India Railway and taken over by SIR in 1872.
• 1928, SIR Central Workshops, Golden Rock, Trichinopoly capable of handling both BG and MG stock .

SIR Schools

• 1928, Golden Rock, Trichinopoly, two schools were established, the 'European and Anglo-Indian School' with 28 pupils and the 'Indian Primary School' with 400 pupils .
• 1931, Trichinopoly 'Railway Training School' established for training of Traffic Department Signallers for European and native Indians .

SIR Hospitals

Initially two hospitals operated at Negapatam and Trichinopoly and in the early 1900's Dispensaries set up in several locations. In 1928 a full Railway Hospital was established at Golden Rock, Trichinopoly .

SIR Rail Network

Railways amalgamated to form SIR

First Amalgamation 1872

• Great Southern of India Railway(GSIR), broad gauge(BG), opened 1861. Merged with Carnatic Railway Company to form SIR, 1872; and subsequently converted to metre gauge(MG) as part of the SIR 'Madras-Tuticorin Mainline' MG Network.
• Carnatic Railway. Took over Indian Tramway Co., 1870; merged with the Great Southern of India Railway to form SIR, 1872.
  • Indian Tramway Co., opened 1865. Formerly Arakkonam-Conjeevaram Tramway which failed in 1870 and taken over by Carnatic Railway.

Second Amalgamation 1908

• Madras Railway(MR) was a broad gauge(BG) network that was constructed, owned and worked by MR up to 31 Dec 1907. On 1 Jan 1908 the 'Southern Section' was transferred to SIR. This Section from Jalarpet had opened 1860-61; extended to Calicut, 1888 and finally to Mangalore, 1907. Line length 417 miles(671km). Upon amalgamation this became the SIR 'Jalarpet-Mangalore Mainline'.
  • 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)

At this time the metre gauge(MG) lines north of Katpadi were relinquished and became part of the newly formed 'Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway'. SIR only retained the Villupuram-Katpadi Railway Section

Following these amalgamations the SIR network was classified as the 'Metre Gauge' and the 'Broad Gauge' Divisions

'South Indian Railway - Lines Owned and Worked' gives full information and details.

Records

Refer to FIBIS Fact File #4: “Research sources for Indian Railways, 1845-1947” - available from the Fibis shop. This Fact File contains invaluable advice on 'Researching ancestors in the UK records of Indian Railways' with particular reference to the India Office Records (IOR) held at the British Library

An on-line search of the IOR records relating to this railway gives many references. The most important being:-

• L/AG/46/13 "Records of the Great Southern of India Railway Company, 1859-74"
• L/AG/46/38 "Records of the India Office relating to the South Indian Railway Company, 1884-1914"
• L/AG/46/18 "Records of the South Indian Railway Company, 1891-1940"
• L/F/7/2594-2606 "Collection 400: South Indian Railway, dates unspecified"
• L/F/7/2595 “Collection 400/2: South Indian Railway: Terms for incorporation of certain District Board Lines in Company's undertaking, 1925-37"

Personnel

India Office Records. The following are held in the IOR 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"

'South Indian Railway Personnel' gives details of notable SIR staff from many different sources.

• These have been listed by SIR Department and in Chronological order.
• The entries link to the Notable Railway People pages.

External links

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

Historical books online

• Illustrated Guide to the South Indian Railway, including the Mayavaram-Mutupet, and Peralam-Karaikkal railway 1900 Archive.org
• Illustrated Guide To The South Indian Railway including the Tanjore District Board, Pondicherry, Peralam-Karaikkal, Travancore State, Cochin State, Coimbatore District Board, Tinnevelly-Tiruchendur and the Nilgiri Railways by South Indian Railway Co. Ltd. Reprint of 1926 edition. Archive.org, Historical Resources of India Collection.