Secunderabad Junction Railway Station

Whenever we safely land in a plane, we promise God a little something.

- Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

The South Central Railway is one of the 16 railway zones in India. Secunderabad Railway Junction is a major intercity rail station and a commuter rail hub in the Hyderabad Urban Area. It is located in the city of Secunderabad and falls under the South Central Railway zone of Indian Railways. It is the zonal headquarter station of the South Central Railway (SCR). The station has also achieved the ISO-9001 Certification for quality management in ticket booking, parcel and luggage booking and train management of platform.

Built in 1874, by the Nizam of Hyderabad State, during the British era, this station was the main station of the Nizam's Railway, until the opening of Kachiguda Railway Station in 1916. Later on, it's operation was takenover by the Indian Railways in 1951, when the Nizam's Railway was nationalized. The main portico and concourse are influenced by Asaf Jahi style architecture. The station building resembles a fort and is one of the tourist attractions in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

The station is well connected by rail to all parts of India. Over 190 trains arrive at, or depart from, the station, daily, transporting over one hundred thousand passengers to their destinations across the country. Situated on the Vijayawada – Wadi (main line of SCR) and Nanded–Guntakal railway lines, and also the divisional headquarter station of Secunderabad Division of the SCR. In recent years, the railways has proposed to upgrade it into a world-class station, with emphasis on vertical expansion of the complex. It is connected to almost all the parts of the twin cities (Hyderabad and Secunderabad) by the Hyderabad MMTS and Hyderabad Road Transport's buses, making it convenient for passengers to commute to and from the station.

Secunderabad Railway Station (Central Station) is one of the biggest and busiest railway stations in the Indian railway system. It is the main railway terminus and a major commuter hub in the Hyderabad Urban Area which is the capital of Andhra Pradesh state. Hence you will find many trains from major cities of India to Hyderabad. The Secunderabad Railway Station is one of the three major railway stations serving the city, the other two being Kachiguda Railway Station and Deccan-Nampalli Railway Station.

The Secunderabad Railway Station is a junction of tracks from 5 directions:

1. Kachiguda-Kurnool-Guntakal-Bangalore
2. Malkajgiri-Bolaram-Nizambad-Nanded-Parbhani
3. Vikarabad-Wadi
4. Bibinagar-Kazipet-Dornakal-Vijayawada Junction
5. Bibinagar-Nalgonda-Guntur-Tenali-Repalle

The Vijayawada-Secunderabad line and Repalle-Secunderabad line combines at Bibinagar junction near Secunderabad Station. Of these lines the Vijayawada Junction-Wadi line is the only electrified one.

The station has 10 platforms which are covered by an R.C.C roof. Each platform can handle a train with more than 24 coaches. All the tracks are broad gauged and there is an additional track between platform no's. 7 & 8 which is a service track for the MMTS and suburban trains where two trains halt at the same platform (due to their short length). Platform Nos. 7 & 8 are each divided into two as 7A, 7B, 8A, & 8B.

HISTORY:

Pre-Independence Nizam era:

The proposal for constructing Secunderabad Railway Station was raised in 1870 when the Nizam of Hyderabad State decided to connect the state with the rest of Indian sub-continent. The Nizam's Railways was formed as a private company and construction of the Secunderabad-Wadi line started in the same year. This line would connect Hyderabad with the Great Indian Peninsular Railway's (the railway company owned by the British India) main line at Wadi Junction. The Nizam provided all the expenses for the construction.

After four years, the Secunderabad-Wadi Line was finished along with the Secunderabad Railway Station on October 9, 1874. This was the first time that railways were introduced in Hyderabad. The main portico and concourse of the station were influenced by Asaf Jahi architecture. The station building resembles a fort and is one of the tourist attractions in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The Nizam State took over the Nizam's Railway and the state owned Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was formed in 1879. In 1871 the Secunderabad station was connected to the Singareni Collieries Company by a 146 miles (235 km) line. The Secunderabad-Wadi line was extended to Vijayawada Junction as the Vijayawada-Wadi line in 1889. The following year, the broad gauge connection between Vijayawada Junction and Chennai Central opened. This made rail travel between Hyderabad and Chennai (then Madras) possible.

The Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railway Company was established in 1900 with the opening of the Manmad-Secunderabad metre gauge line. However, the company eventually merged into Nizam's State Railways in 1930. In 1916 another railway terminus, Kachiguda Railway Station, was constructed as the headquarters of Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway and also to regulate the traffic at Secunderabad. Diesel rail cars by Ganz were tried out for the first time in Hyderabad State, by Nizam's State Railway, in 1939.

After Independence:

On November 5, 1951, the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was nationalized by the Government of India and merged into the government owned Indian Railways under the Ministry of Railways. The Secunderabad Station was assigned to the Central Railways zone of Indian Railways with Mumbai CST as its headquarters. In 1966 a new railway zone, the South Central Railway, was formed with Secunderabad as its headquarters, it also being the headquarters of the Secunderabad Division. The zonal headquarters office of South Central Railway, called Rail Nilayam, was constructed in 1972. The divisional headquarters of the Secunderabad Division was built in 1980.

The Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET), one of the six Centralised Training Institutes of Indian Railways, was set up in Secunderabad by the Ministry of Railways on November 24, 1957. It was meant to cater to the specialised training needs of the railway staff and officers in the fields of railway signalling and telecommunication. Being an ISO 9001 certified training institute it today caters to the needs of the entire Afro-Asian region.

In 1967 the Ajanta Express was introduced between Kachiguda Railway Station and Manmad (via Secunderabad). With an average speed of 42.5 km/h it was the fastest metre gauge train in India when introduced. In 1969 the Golconda Express was introduced which would travel between Secunderabad and Vijayawada Junction. At that time it was the fastest steam-hauled train in the country with an average speed of 58 km/h. and was later extended up to Guntur.

To facilitate effective operational and administrative control the Secunderabad Division was split into two divisions in February 1978: Secunderabad Division and Hyderabad Division.

The early standalone computerised reservation system began its operation at Secunderabad in July 1989. But, with the introduction of the Computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) at Secunderabad Station by SCR, from September 30, 1989, the rail reservations at Secunderabad were made easy. This system was later linked to New Delhi, Howrah, Mumbai and Chennai in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 1999 respectively. This version was before the CONCERT system of reservation was developed to interconnect the stations. CONCERT was developed at Secunderabad in September 1994 but the first prototype of the CONCERT passenger reservation system was not implemented at the station until January 1995.

The Secunderabad - Mahbubnagar metre gauge section was converted to broad gauge in 1993, breaking one of the important north-south meter gauge freight connections in India towards the north from Secunderabad. The same year the Secunderabad Station was electrified towards Kazipet and Vijayawada Junction. The electric locomotive shed in South Lallaguda (near Secunderabad Station), with a capacity to maintain 100 electric locomotives, was built in 1995.

MMTS:

The Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS), the first of its kind in Andhra Pradesh, was introduced in 2003 with two lines: Lingampally – Hyderabad Railway Station with 13 services, and Lingampally Railway Station – Secunderabad with 11 services each day (initially).

SRI GANAPATHI DEVALAYAM:

Sri Ganapathi Devalayam is situated just beneath Secunderabad Railway Station

Sri Ganapathi Devalayam (Ganesh temple) near Secunderabad Railway station is one of the popular Ganesha temples in twin cities. The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Ganesha. The temple deserves a special mention in terms of its architectural grandedur and spiritual sanctity.

The temple and the idol have great history. Historians opine that resplendent icon of Lord Ganapathi was found out in 1824 by the Madras Regiment Sepoys, while they were digging a well of portable water there.

With great devotion, the Sepoys consecrated the idol and installed it in an architecturally marvellous temple, built according to Aagama Sastra. There are beautiful icons of Sri Valli Devasena Sametha Subramanya swamy and Anjaneya swamy in the temple.

Sankashtahara Ganesha Chaturthi is one of the most celebrated monthly vratham in the temple. Large number of devotees visits the Ganesh temple on Tuesday and Friday. Ganesh Chaturthi or Ganapathi Navarathri, Mahashivaratri, Devi Sharan Navarathri, and Ugadi are the important festivals celebrated with utmost fervor in Secunderabad Ganesh temple.

This temple is situated just beneath Secunderabad Railway Station.