Shoranur-Cochin Railway

The Shoranur-Cochin Railway was opened in 1902. The metre gauge(MG) line linked Shoranur to the Ernakulam Terminus in Cochin(Kochi), a distance of 62 miles (100km). The line was owned by the Princely Cochin State. Worked by Madras Railway up to 31 Dec 1907. Thereafter the working was undertaken by South Indian Railway(SIR).

The railway and the Cochin Bridge were funded by the Maharaja of Cochin, of the Princely Cochin State who reigned from the year 1895 till 1914. The bridge was the first to ford the river that obstructed passage between Malabar and the southern states of Cohin/Travancore. The first freight train passed over the bridge on 2nd June 1902 and a few days later on the 16th the line opened to passenger traffic.

At Chalakudy, an intermediate station on the 'Shoranur-Cochin Railway', the timber from the Parambikulam Forest Area operation was transferred from the 'Cochin State Forest Tramway' - see separate page for information.

It was only in 1938 that the Cochin Harbour Extension Railway was opened as an extension to the Shoranur-Cochin Railway.

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 the following: -

• L/F/8/17/1236 “ South Indian Railway Company Limited, Agreement for the working and maintenance of the Shoranur-Cochin State Railway His Highness Raja Sir Sri Rama Vurmah; 1908"