little history about southern railway

Madras Central station in 1868

 Madras Central was built in 1873 at Parktown as a second terminus to decongest the Royapuram harbour station which was being utilised for port movements. Built in the Gothic Revival style, the original station was designed by George Hardinge and consisted of just four platforms. The station was later modified with the addition of the central clock tower and other changes by Robert Fellowes Chisholm ^[3]. The redesign was eventually completed in 1900.

Madras Central gained prominence after the beach line was extended further south in 1907 and Royapuram was no longer a terminus for Madras^[4]. All trains were  then terminated at Madras Central instead and its position was further strengthened after the construction of the headquarters of the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway (erstwhile Madras Railway and now known as the Southern Railway (India)) adjacent to it in 1922.

Due to increasing passenger movement, the main building was extended with the addition of a new building on the western side with a similar architecture to the original.

Capacity at the station was further augmented after construction of the multistoreyed Moore Market Complex as a dedicated terminus for theMadras suburban railway system.

egmore rly stn  1926 The Great Southern of India Railway Company was incorporated in Britain in 1858. The company received a guarantee from the Secretary of State for India for a 5% return on £500,000 which was to be used to construct a railway line from Nagapattinam (formerly Negapatam) to Tiruchirapalli (formerly Trichinopoly), along with several branch lines. The company’s guarantee was given amidst political controversy. Lord Stanley took over from Sir Charles Wood as Secretary of State for India, whereupon he reversed his predecessor’s policy, and starting granting guarantees to the smaller branch line railway companies. The Great Southern of India Railway Company was one of the first companies to benefit. Construction began on the line shortly after the company’s incorporation, and by 1860, the Nagapattinam to Tiruchirapalli line was nearing completion. The Great Southern of India was a small railway in southern India that existed between 1862 till 1872 when it joined forces with the Carnatic Railway to become the South Indian Railway. The original Great Southern lines were all broad gauge, but they were converted to meter gauge in 1872. The Great Southern's line ran from Negapatnam (now Nagapattinam) and Trichnopoly (now Tiruchirappalli)