Rameswaram railway station

Rameswaram railway terminus (station code: RMM^[1]) is an NSG–3 category Indian railway station in Madurai railway division of Southern Railway zone.^[2] It serves the town of Rameswaram, located in Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.^[3] The station links the pilgrim town as well as the rest of the island to the mainland via the highly acclaimed New Pamban Rail Bridge.

Rameswaram RAMESWARAM
Rameswaram Railway Station
General information
Location	GP Road, Rameswaram, Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu India
Coordinates	9.282°N 79.309°E / 9.282; 79.309
Elevation	2 metres (6 ft 7 in)
Owned by	Indian Railways
Operated by	Southern Railway
Line(s)	Manamadurai–Rameswaram branch line
Platforms	5
Tracks	12
Connections	Bus stand, Auto rickshaw stand
Construction
Structure type	Standard (on ground station)
Parking	Yes
Accessible
Other information
Status	Temporarily Closed
Station code	RMM[1]
Zone(s)	Southern Railway zone
Division(s)	MDUTooltip Madurai railway division
History
Opened	1906; 119 years ago (1906)
Closed	2022 December
Rebuilt	31 October 2007; 17 years ago (2007-10-31)
Electrified	Ongoing
Previous names	Rameswaram Road
Passengers
2022–23	1,088,427 (per year) 2,982 (per day)  100.5%
Rank	15
Services
Preceding station Indian Railways Following station Terminus Southern Railway zone Manamadurai–Rameswaram branch line Pamban towards ?
Route map Legend km to Dindigul Junction 0 Madurai Junction to Bodinayakkanur to Virudhunagar Junction Tirupparankuram overpass SH 32 SH 195 4 Madurai East NH 38 Silaiman Bypass 12 Silaiman Silaiman Bypass Tiruppuvanam Bypass 21 Tiruppuvanam Tiruppuvanam Bypass 32 Tiruppachetti 41 Rajagambiram NH 87 to Karaikkudi Junction 48 Manamadurai Junction to Virudhunagar Junction 58 Sudiyur NH 87 NH 87 SH 29 72 Paramakudi Paramakudi Canal NH 87 92 Sattirakudi 107 Ramanathapuram SH 49 NH 32 116 Valantaravai 127 Uchippuli NH 87 131 Pirappanvalasai Pillaimadam 141 Mandapam Camp 144 Mandapam Pamban Bridge over Palk Strait (Defunct) New Pamban Bridge over Palk Strait NH 87 151 Pamban Junction 168 Towards Dhanushkodi Terminal Branch out of service to Dhanushkodi ( under construction ) 161 Rameswaram Line end This diagram: view talk edit
Location Rameswaram Location within India Show map of India Rameswaram Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) Show map of Tamil Nadu

Location and layout

The station is one of the oldest in the country, and accommodate trains such as the Sethu Express and the Boatmail Express, which were two of the most significant and historic trains operated in the region prior to the gauge conversion.^{[citation needed]} There are four platforms, seven railway tracks, and two pitlines within the station. Currently, the Rameswaram railway station and the Pamban railway station are the only two functioning train stations in the island excluding the former rail terminus in Dhanushkodi that is no longer in use. The metre-gauge branch line from Pamban Junction to Dhanushkodi was dismantled after it was destroyed in a cyclone in 1964.

New Railway route in proposal

Below New proposals were planned to have a faster travel for the pilgrims who were visiting the holy temple at Rameshwaram from various parts of the nation, the proposed route will benefit the faster connectivity between the state capital Chennai to Rameshwaram Temple via Tiruchirappalli, Karaikudi and Ramanathapuram railway route from the existing route would take more than 2 hours additional time for the train travel.^[4]

Karaikudi-Devakottai-Ramanathapuram new BG line:[6] Reconnaissance Engineering cum Traffic Survey for a new BG line between Karaikkudi and Ramanathapuram via Devakkottai (108 km) was conducted and Survey Report was sent to Railway Board on 30.08.2011. This project was shelved by Railway Board.

Projects and development

It is one of the 73 stations in Tamil Nadu to be named for upgradation under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme of Indian Railways.^[5]

Performance and earnings

For the FY 2022–23, the annual earnings of the station was ₹370,074,945 (US$4.4 million) and daily earnings was ₹1,013,904 (US$12,000). For the same financial year, the annual passenger count was 1,088,427 and daily count was 2,982. While, the footfall per day was recorded as 6,516.^[3]