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 South Indian Railway map in 1910 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | York Street,Westminster,London,UKGBI (R. O.) Trichinopoly,Madras Presidency,British Raj (Operations) |
| Reporting mark | SIR |
| Locale | Madras Presidency |
| Dates of operation | 1 July 1874 (1874-07-01)–13 April 1951 (1951-04-13) (76 years, 9 months and 13 days) |
| Predecessor | Great Southern Railway of India Carnatic Railway |
| Successor | Southern Railway zone |
| Technical | |
| Previous gauge | 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) |
TheSouth Indian Railway Company operated a number of1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge lines[1] inSouth India from 1874 to 1951.
The Great Southern of India Railway Company was established with its headquarters inEngland in 1853. The Carnatic Railway Company was founded in 1869.[2] The two companies merged in 1874 to form the South Indian Railway Company.[3] The new firm was registered inLondon in 1890 withTrichinopoly as its headquarters. In 1891, the Pondicherry Railway Company (incorporated in 1845[2]) merged with the South Indian Railway Company. The company moved its headquarters later to,Chennai Central. The company operated a suburban electric train service for Madras city from May 1931 onwards. The South Indian Railway Company was nationalized in 1944. On 1 April 1951, the South Indian Railway Company, theMadras and Southern Mahratta Railway Company and theMysore Railway Company were merged to form theSouthern Railway zone of theIndian Railways.
By the end of 1877 the company owned 97 steam locomotives, 366 coaches and 1643 goods wagons.[4] By 1936, the rolling stock had increased to 557 locomotives, 27 railcars, 1610 coaches and 9779 freight wagons.[5]
It was labeled as a Class I railway according toIndian Railway Classification System of 1926.[6][7]
The railway lines were converted to1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)broad gauge in the 1990s[citation needed].
