Legend

km to Jolarpettai Junction to Bangalore City to Mettur Dam 0 Salem Junction to Vriddhachalam Junction to Erode Junction 13 Mallur 26 Rasipuram 34 Puduchatram 40 Kalangani 52 Namakkal 59 Laddivadi 70 Mohanur 74 Vangal to Erode Junction 86 Karur Junction to Tiruchirappalli Junction 91 Thandoni 101 Velliyani 115 Palaiyam 131 Vembur 139 Eriodu SATooltip Salem railway division limits MDUTooltip Madurai railway division limits to Tiruchirappalli Junction to Pollachi 160 Dindigul Junction to Madurai Junction

The Salem–Karur–Dindigul line is a very important line in Southern Railway (SR), which acts as a Direct, No-Reversal gateway from Salem to Tiruchirappalli, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli etc, for trains coming from/via Bangalore (SBC/YPR/SMVT), Tirupati (TPTY) and Chennai Central (MAS).

Karur Junction railway station (station code: KRR) is an NSG–4 category Indian railway station in Salem railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is a junction station located in the city of Karur in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is situated along with Erode and Tiruchirapalli. The station is a junction for incoming trains from Tiruchirappalli, Salem and Dindigul towards Jolarpettai–Chennai line through Erode Junction.

History

It was the first railway station in India to have a broad-gauge track. It was installed in the late 1860s, in a period even when all Indian railway stations, including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, were on narrow gauge.

A 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge line linking the station to Salem via Namakkal was opened in 2014. The station is a part of the Salem railway division of the Southern Railways. Karur is one of the List 'A' class junction in Salem division and one of the top revenue junctions in Southern Railways. Indian Railways has proposed doubling of Salem-Karur-Dindigul and Erode-Karur Line in the 2020 budget.

Lines

Four single BG electric lines branch out from the Junction:

1. BG Single Electric Line Towards Salem Via Namakkal
2. BG Single Electric Line Towards Dindigul
3. BG Single Electric Line Towards Erode Via Kodumudi
4. BG Single Electric Line Towards Tiruchirappalli Via Kulithalai

Projects and development

It is one of the 73 stations in Tamil Nadu to be named for upgradation under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme of Indian Railways.

Awards and achievements

In 2019, the station was granted ISO–14001 certification for complying with NGT (nation Green Tribunal).

Incidents

• About 40 farmers in the district who had parted with their lands for the Salem–Karur BG line project filed a petition seeking adequate compensation as directed by the court.
• Six children, aged under 7 years old and a teacher travelling in a school van had a miraculous escape when their vehicle hit a slowing train at an unmanned level crossing at Kallumadai near the station in February 2014.