Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram trunk line is a railway line in Southern Railway zone connecting the cities of Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram in the state of Kerala, India. The line was opened on 4 January 1918 as the extension of Madras–Quilon line during metre gauge era.

Quick Facts Overview, Status ...

Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram trunk line
View of the rail line passing through Kollam Junction
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Southern Railway zone
Locale	Kerala
Termini	Kollam Junction (QLN) Thiruvananthapuram Central (TVC)
Stations	18
Website	Southern Railway
Service
Type	Inter-city rail
System	Electrified
Services	1 (QLN-TVC)
Operator(s)	Thiruvananthapuram Div.
Depot(s)	Kochuveli, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam
Rolling stock	WAP-1, WAP-4 electric locos; WAP-7 WDS-6, WDM-2, WDM-3A, WDP-4 and WDG-3A, WDG-4
History
Opened	4 January 1918; 106 years ago (1918-01-04)
Extension up to TVC	1931; 93 years ago (1931)
Electrification	2006; 18 years ago (2006)[1]
Technical
Line length	65 kilometres (40 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Character	At–grade
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Old gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
Loading gauge	4,725 mm × 3,660 mm (15 ft 6.0 in × 12 ft 0.1 in) (BG)[2]
Electrification	25 kV AC OHLE
Operating speed	82 km/h (51 mph)
Route map Kollam Junction–Thiruvananthapuram Central trunk line Legend km to Ernakulam to Sengottai 0 Kollam Junction Chinnakada overpass SP Office overpass 4.6 Eravipuram 8.9 Mayyanad Paravur Lake 12.4 Paravur Paravur town overpass Edava Lake 17.0 Kappil H. 19.9 Edava 23.7 Varkala Maithanam underpass 30.1 Akathumuri 32.8 Kadakkavoor Kadakkavoor overpass 35.9 Chirayinkeezhu 40.0 Perunguzhi 43.2 Murukkampuzha 47.2 Kaniyapuram Kazhakuttam overpass 51.3 Kazhakuttam 57.5 Kochuveli Chakka overpass 62.1 Pettah Kizhakkekotta overpass 64.6 Thiruvananthapuram Central to Nagercoil Junction This diagram: view talk edit

Close

South Indian Railway Company has opened the Quilon–Sengottai railway line in 1902 with an intention to connect Quilon (Kollam), the commercial capital of Travancore with Madras. Port of Quilon and the city's commercial reputation has urged the British rulers to connect the city of Quilon with Madras for the smooth transportation of goods including Pepper, Cashew, and spices.^[3] Later on 4 January 1918, South Indian Railway Company has opened the Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram extension up to Chala. The terminus was shifted to Trivandrum Central (Thampanoor) and was inaugurated in 1931.^[4]

This line falling under the administrative control of Thiruvananthapuram railway division of the Southern Railway zone connects with Thiruvananthapuram–Kanyakumari line in South, Kollam–Kayamkulam line in North and Kollam–Punalur–Sengottai line in the East.^[4][5]

Five stations were prominent lying in between Kollam & Thiruvananthapuram posted well above ₹1 crore (equivalent to ₹1.7 crore or US$210,000 in 2023) in annual passenger ticket revenue during the fiscal year 2012-13 and most of their revenue increased during the year 2016–2017.^[6][7][8][9]

There are currently 67 pairs of services, including 25 pairs of daily services(4 pairs of passengers, 18 pairs of express trains and 3 pairs of Super Fast trains) plying through Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram line. Kollam Junction is the 2nd busiest railway station in the state in terms of number of services passing through along with trains handled per day and 4th busiest in terms of total annual passengers.