The Hindu Business Line : Royapuram railway station repair work may be completed by Oct

Trains still chug out of this station, which is said to be the oldest in the country. (The first railway line in India, which opened for traffic, was from Bori Bunder to Thane. Neither the Bori Bunder nor the Thane stations survive in their original form.) The second railway line of the Indian subcontinent started from Royapuram in North Madras to Arcot. The line was opened for traffic in July 1856.

According to information available with the Southern Railway, "the Royapuram station building, that resembled a Regency mansion was declared open by the then Governor Lord Harris in June 1856. Lord Harris said the project was worth the investment and looked forward to equally expeditious completion of additional miles of track up to the West Coast.

"Two trains each with coaches made by Simpson & Co, the leading coachbuilders of the day, inaugurated the service. One carried the Governor and 300 Europeans and the other with Indian invitees followed. The Illustrated London News gave a graphic description of the inaugural train passing across the arid plain of the Carnatic, frightening herdsmen and cattle.

"The complexity of the Indian Railway operations and the range of facilities required for the hierarchic and heterogeneous nature of the passenger traffic forced colonial railway authorities to build railway stations that reflect their Imperial power."

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Royapuram railway station repair work may be completed by Oct