Sengottai railway station

Sengottai railway station (station code: SCT) is an NSG–5 category Indian railway station in Madurai railway division of Southern Railway zone. It serves Sengottai, located in Tenkasi district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on Kollam–Sengottai branch line and Virudunagar–Sengottai line. The Kollam–Shencottah railway line is the first railway line in erstwhile Travancore state and is more than a century old. The Kollam–Sengottai section is part of the Kollam–Chennai metre-gauge rail route commissioned by the British during 1904. The line which was metre gauge has been completely converted into broad gauge and train services started.

Overview
The Sengottai railway station is in the Southern Railways zone/Madurai division of Indian Railways and falls on the Virudhunagar to Kollam line. The station code is SCT.

History
The first idea of rail link from Tirunelveli to Kollam which was the trading capital of the Travancore Kingdom was conceived in 1873. The line was sanctioned by the Madras Presidency in 1899 and the survey was completed in 1900.The railway line was built jointly by South Indian railway, Travancore state and Madras Presidency.It was the ruler's desire to create a rail link between Kollam, the then commercial capital of his State and Madras. The meter gauge line from Kollam to Punalur was inaugurated by on 1 June 1904. The Punalur–Sengottai railway line was inaugurated on 26 November 1904. The construction of the metre-gauge rail route between Kollam–Punalur and Punalur–Shenkottai (Ghats section) along the scenic mountain terrain was started in 1873 by the British engineers and was completed in 1902. Travancore rulers in association with the British prepared the plan for the track through the challenging mountain terrain as it involved construction of long arch bridges over steep valleys and tunnels across the rocky mountains of Western Ghats.

The first goods train travelled on this route in 1902 and a train carrying its first passengers began its run in 1904. It makes for a thrilling train journey as it passes over five big bridges and hundreds of tiny ones while negotiating mountain streams and valleys. Passengers are also treated to a breath–taking view of the Western Ghats. The train also passes through five tunnels on this stretch, including the one-kilometer long tunnel between Bhagawathipuram and Arayankavu. The station at Punalur was equipped with locomotive service centre, Parcel and Timber Depot, Train parking bays, Storage Tanks for water and oil, etc. The scenic Punalur–Shencotta railway lies across the western ghats, providing a valuable link across the southern states. The journey through the western ghats is incredible.

Layout
The station has four platforms, of which all are functional. It also has six tracks used for passenger and shunting purpose.

Gauge conversion
The Punalur–Sengottai section is part of the 325 km Kollam–Sengottai–Tenkasi–Tirunelveli–Thiruchendur gauge conversion project and part of the Tenkasi–Virudhunagar trunk route to Chennai at an estimate of inr 3200000000. The gauge conversion of the Thiruchendur-Sengottai section has been completed and is open to traffic. In Kollam Junction–Shenkottai section the broad gauge conversion is also finished. Now it is serving as the shortest rail-route from Kochi port to Tuticorin port. Infrastructure of the station will be changed as proposed in tune with handling demands and matching to the glory of past.

Performance and earnings
For the FY 2022–23, the annual earnings of the station was inr 79966250 and daily earnings was inr 219086. For the same financial year, the annual passenger count was 484,203 and daily count was 1,327. While, the footfall per day was recorded as 2,391.