Puducherry railway station

Railway station in Pondicherry, India

11°55′30″N 79°49′41″E / 11.9250°N 79.8281°E / 11.9250; 79.8281Owned byIndian RailwaysOperated bySouthern Railway zoneLine(s)Villupuram–Pondicherry branch linePlatforms4 + 1(Goods Terminal)Tracks5Train operatorsIndian RailwaysConnectionsTaxi stand, Auto rickshaw standConstructionStructure typeStandard (on-ground station)ParkingAvailableBicycle facilitiesAvailableAccessible

Other informationStatusFunctioningStation codePDY Zone(s) Southern Railway zone Division(s) CHENNAI TiruchirappalliFare zoneIndian RailwaysHistoryOpened1879Closed2022Rebuilt2025 AUGUSTElectrifiedYesPrevious namesPondicherry Railway StationPassengers80,0000 Services Several

Route map

Legend

to Katpadi Junction

Chennai Egmore

Viluppuram Junction

Vriddhachalam Junction

to Cuddalore Port Junction

Valavanur

Chinna Babu Samudram

Tamil Nadu

Puducherry

NH 332

Villianur

NH 332

Puducherry

Location

Puducherry railway station (station code: PDY) is an NSG–4 category Indian railway station in Tiruchirappalli railway division of Southern Railway zone.^[1] It is a railway terminus of the Villupuram–Pondicherry branch line serving the city of Pondicherry, headquarter of Puducherry Union territory

History

The Puducherry railway line is one of the oldest rail link in India and it was constructed in the year 1879 by the Puducherry Railway Company during the period of French and British rule in India. Under the supervision of South Indian Railway with the object of connecting the town and the port of Puducherry with South India and to develop the resources of the Puducherry Territory, the rail link between Puducherry and Villupuram has been established. Even though there was total enmity between the then Super Powers—the French and the English—when it came to economic development they had a very good understanding and the Puducherry Railway system was a good example of it.^[2]

The station is operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways and comes under the Tiruchirapalli railway division. This Division may be the only Division in the world maintaining the Railways developed by both the British and the French empires.

It has daily trains connecting the city with Chennai, villuppuram and Tirupathi apart from non-daily trains towards prime cities including Mangaluru, kanyakumari, Bengaluru, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bhubaneshwar and Mumbai via Villupuram.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Location and layout

The Puducherry railway station is located on Subbiah Salai and is very close to several tourist spots and important locations in the city such as the Main Bus Stand (1.3 km (0.81 mi)), Aurobindo Ashram (1.8 km (1.1 mi)), Chief Secretariat Building (1.9 km (1.2 mi)), and Puducherry Airport (6.8 km (4.2 mi)).^[6]

There are 4 platforms in the station for passenger traffic and one for the goods service which is sandwiched between platform 1.^[7] There have also been proposals for constructing 2 pit lanes in the station for train maintenance. The station underwent a major revamp in 2008 following the launch of new trains connecting it to various destinations.^[6] currently all the rakes of trains which are operated from this station are being maintained in villupuram junction railway station

References

^ "SOUTHERN RAILWAY LIST OF STATIONS AS ON 01.04.2023 (CATEGORY- WISE)" (PDF). Portal of Indian Railways. Centre For Railway Information Systems. 1 April 2023. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
^ "SOUTHERN RAILWAY—TIRUCHCHIRAPPALLI DIVISION" (PDF). Indian Railways. Southern Railway zone. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
^ "Residents demand railway station". The Hindu. Puducherry. 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
^ Jaisankar C. (27 February 2013). "A dream-come-true Railway budget: Union Minister". The Hindu. Puducherry. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
^ "Bomb scare at railway station". The Hindu. Puducherry. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Facelift for railway station". The Hindu. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
^ "Railway move to shift goods handling draws flak". The Indian Express. 22 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2017.