Guruvayur–Thrissur spur line

Guruvayur–Thrissur spur line
	300px View of Thrissur railway station
Overview
Type	Regional rail
System	Electrified
Status	Operational
Locale	Thrissur District
Termini	Thrissur; Guruvayur
Stations	2
Services	1
Website	http://southernrailway.gov.in/sr/indexhome.jsp
Operation
Opened	9 January 1994; 30 years ago
Owner	Southern Railway zone
Operator(s)	Thiruvananthapuram railway division
Technical
Line length	23 kilometres (14 mi)
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Route map
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Guruvayur–Thrissur section is a spur line functioning under Trivandrum railway division of Southern Railway Zone. This is a single Broad Gauge line which begins at Thrissur city in Thrissur District and ends at Guruvayur in Thrissur District of Kerala. The 23 kilometres (14 mi) section was opened for traffic in the year 1994. The line connects the Cultural Capital of Kerala, Thrissur to the Temple Town of Kerala, Guruvayur, the fourth biggest temple in India in terms of the number of devotees per day.^[1]^[2]^[3]

History

In 1983, Kamalpati Tripathi, then Minister of Railways (India) announced the construction of Thrissur-Guruvayur-Kuttipuram section. But following stiff opposition from the local people, Kuttipuram was dropped. After carrying out detailed studies and examining various alternatives, it was decided to connect Tanur, on the Shoranur - Mangalore Section, to Guruvayur. On 19 January 1985 Indian Railway officially notifies Guruvayur-Tanur line for construction as temple town is a notified pilgrimage area. Rajiv Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India in 1987 inaugurated the first alignment line of Guruvayur-Tanur section.

On 9 January 1994 the first phase of the Thrissur-Guruvayur section was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India, Narasimha Rao. On 17 December 1995, Suresh Kalmadi and then Chief Minister of Kerala Kannoth Karunakaran inaugurated the work for the Guruvayur-Kuttipuram line. But later Kuttipuram was dropped once more and Indian Railways in 1997 give the green signal for Guruvayur-Tanur line. 51.25 km Guruvayur-Tanur railway line survey report was submitted to Indian Railways in July 1998. The project, estimated at Rs 138 crores, was sanctioned in 1999. The final surveys were done for the Guruvayur-Tanur railway line in January 2003, which will cover 51 km. The funds allocated for the project since 1999-2000 had lapsed. A sum of Rs 5 crores was allocated in the Railway Budget 2006 also. In October 2009, Guruvayur-Tirunavaya alignment was chosen by Indian Railways.^[2]^[4]^[5]

Commemorative plaque of Kuttipuram-Guruvayoor section in Guruvayoor Railway Station