Villupuram Jn. - Pondicherry M.G. Branch
Oct., 1967
Pondicherry, 150 km S-SSE of Madras (Chennai), was founded by the French in 1674 on the site of a village purchased from the Sultan of Bijapur. Around 100 A.D. a Roman emporium and, in 1000 A.D. a Vedic university, had flourished in nearby localities. By 1817 the British had won the race for India and the French were confined to five small territories which were handed over to India in 1954 to constitute the Union Territoy of Pondicherry. When the freedom movement gained strength in India, Pondicherry offered sanctuary against British persecution to a number of freedom fighters including Subramania Barathi and Sri Aurobindo Ghosh; the latter turned to philosophy and founded the well-known Ashram, which has adherents from all over India and abroad. At the time of merger with Indian Union, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru granted certain privileges to the Union Territory, so that it continued to remain "a window to the French culture" - the main advantage being that the territory gets large grants-in-aid from the Centre, accounting for its prosperity.
The soil is partly weathered Cuddalore red sandstone, which extends from Marakkanam (30 km to N-NNE) to Vriddhachalam (65 km to SW) and is often associated with underlying layers of kaolin (china clay), artesian water and seams of lignite. Lignite has been discovered, though not yet exploited, in Bahour. It is the plentiful availability of good quality ground water that has been a strong attraction of Pondicherry. The red soil is not that very conducive to the growth of paddy, but well suited for sugar cane, cashews and groundnuts. The weather in summer is hot but October to March are pleasant.
The development of Pondicherry since merger in 1954 has been phenomenal. In 1948, it was a town lit dimly by 110 volt D.C. supplied from a generator burning coal near the beach. Compact and nearly rectangular, built on the pattern of the towns in France within four boulevards with a grid of N/S roads and W/E streets, it has not expanded since, but is bursting at its seams. A number of nagars (residential colonies) have come up in the areas all around which, just thirty years ago, were rough fields or cashew jungles; even government offices have been forced move out into these outskirts.
Instead of just two banks till 1954, including the Banque de l'Indochine which printed and circulated French Indian currency, there are now over forty. Whereas only high schools and just a French College existed in 1954, there now are numerous arts and science colleges, engineering colleges, polytechnics, medical and dental colleges, a veterinary college and a law college, besides the centrally-administered Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, all affiliated to Pondicherry University.There are two old textile mills but have been sick for a long time. Many small and medium scale industries are operating in the peripheries of the town.
I vividly remember my first trip by train to Pondicherry in late 1948 from Madurai when my father was transferred to the to-be-opened branch of his bank in Pondicherry. The French were still ruling there and owned the last 13 km stretch of the branch line, though it was operated by SIR. Arriving by the m.g. Trivandrum - Madras Mail, we changed to the Villupuram - Pondicherry passenger, which, at 04:30 started moving S. at the same time as the Madras - Madurai Parcel Passenger, the two trains engaging in a "thrilling" race though for just about 600 m. only, before we turned E.
At the border crossing in Chinnababu Samudram at dawn, we, holding Class III tickets, were detrained and herded into a large corrugated G.I. shed for the customs check. Very little was being taken by anyone towards Pondicherry, but even small quantities of rice were confiscated. The check lasted about 45 minutes, after which we boarded the train again. Passengers travelling Inter, second or first class had the privilege of staying on in the train for the customs check conducted in the carriages. We reached Pondicherry by 06:30, a station with Gothic touches, though not proportions. When travelling towards Villupuram, the customs check would be more rigorous, taking nearly 75 minutes or so, for many visitors to Pondicherry were tempted to take with them some fancy French item on which a duty would be levied.
On many afternoons, I would walk one mile to the railway station to watch the train arrive from Villupuram and the engine do a lot of shunting of goods wagons. Those days the line used to extend E beyond Pondicherry station for about 400 m to edge on to the sea shore, then curve to run N along the Eastern Boulevard (Beach Road) for another 600 m, up to which point goods wagons used to be shunted. Here, opposite the old Douane (Customs house), an old iron pier jutted out some 300 m into the sea with rails for trollies to carry the goods that arrived by ships stopping at the roadstead for loading into the wagons. Split in the middle by a severe cyclone in 1954, the pier crumbled down in the following years. Now very few ships call at Pondicherry, though the line extends E of the remodelled station to the new port with a short concrete pier some 1 km S of the location of the old one.
The following trip was made by me on an October afternoon in 1967.
.. Villupuram Jn. (139'). Arrived from Mayuram Jn. by the Tiruchirappalli - Madras Egmore Express (m.g.) at 13:20 on pfm. 4. The Jn. is aligned N/S and had to cross by foot-overbridge near its Sn. end over to the last island to the E. I was excited by the sight of an MT (2-6-2) engine bringing in the 6-carriage Pondicherry - Villupuram Pass. on pfm. 6 at 13:43, and got inside a GT carriage. But a YP attached itself to the other end and hauled the train to Pondicherry. d 13:55.
Proceeded S, first under the road to Pondicherry, then past the extensive railway quarters; soon curved smoothly into E-ESE away from the main line via Cuddalore Jn (in SE) and the chord via Vriddhachalam Jn (in SSW). A groundnut oil mill just to S, amidst level fields of young paddy and sugarcane on light red-brown soil. Then a compact cluster old houses to the left (N), more sugar cane and paddy, with bits of maize. Passing a temple for Iyyanar, the diety who guards the village in the nights, with its terracotta horses,
5-4 Kolianur Halt (116') a 14:04, d 14:05, 140 m. long, low pfm. at left, with office and waiting space; though a Halt, had a loop at right with a small goods shed. Level fields of sugar cane on both sides. Level-crossed the road to Kumbakonam, more fields of paddy, now less open with coconut tress, curved slightly to the right, then
8-14 Valavanur (104') a 14:10, d 14:11 (?) Pfm at left similar to that in Koliyanur, but with larger, tiled office and waiting hall; two loops to right with a medium-sized, corrugated GI goods shed. The town to the N has long been famous for its paddy cultivation practices. More fields, mostly paddy and bits of maize, but little sugar cane. Then a 3 x 20' girder bridge across the spillway of a large, shallow and dry tank at left. More plots of sugarcane, curved left, level-crossed a tar road.
16-0 Pallinelianur (73.7') a 14:21, d 14:22. Pfm at right again similar to the previous ones, but slightly curved, just past a brief siding to left with a small GI goods shed. Completed the curve to settle into ENE, then across open, slightly eneven fields, bare or with young paddy and stunted trees on both sides. Level-crossed the Villupuram - Pondicherry Road at a low angle, curved right to enter
22-0 Chinnababu Samudram (54') a 14:30, d 14:35. 170 m long high pfm at right (S) with a slightly large, tiled office, but with the customs sheds gone. Two loops to the left, but no goods shed. Rails, iron sleepers and bolts stacked around. Past open fields, about 1 km. to the S, the chimney of a sugar factory. Ran nearly E on tracks well ballasted with granite chips, curved sharply to left and 26-6, crossed the dry bed of R. Gingee by 7 x 150' truss bridge, entering the Union Territory. Curved right into E-ESE, ran across quite flat young paddy fields with the soil redder; level-crossed another road which ran SE towards the town with prominent towers of an old Siva temple
30-0 Villianur (29') a 14:45, d 14:48. Country-tiled office and waiting hall on 150 m long, high, metalled pfm at right (S). Two loops and a goods shed on the left. Ran E, past densely built houses, level-crossed once more the road to Pondicherry; running to its S across more of open fields; then hutments giving way to houses, the red building of a large textile mill at right (S); level-crossed the Cuddalore road running N/S, more modest houses on both sides but densely built; crossed a drain, then the Jardin Colonial, with many old, exotic trees, at the left. Sidings on the left with a turntable, three loops to the right with a large, tiled goods shed at right,
(38) Pondicherry (8') a 14:57. Just one long, wide pfm. at left, with a solid row of waiting space - booking office - exit - SM's office - parcel office and retiring room, outside which ran the Southern Boulevard with the town to its N.
In 1967 four trains ran each way daily between Pondicherry and Villupuram. But with increasing frequency of buses in the various directions, rail passenger traffic declined. The railway tried to attract traffic by running a passenger through to Madras and another to Tirupathi via Katpadi Jn. But via Villupuram the distances by rail are longer and the journeys took much more time than by buses. As commuter traffic too declined, Kolianur Halt and Pallineliyanur station were closed; Valavanur and Villianur were downgraded to Halts.
Road transport has developed by leaps and bounds in the last five decades. Instead of just two private buses every day each way to Madras till 1954, which took nearly six hours for the 150 km trip via Marakkanam using a ferry to cross the backwater there, now there is a bus every 10 -15 minutes - except between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. when the frequency is less - by two main routes, via Tindivanam and by the newly laid East Coast Road, taking just over three hours. There are frequent buses towards Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Mayavaram, Karaikal and Nagapattinam in the S, towards Kumbakonam, Thanjavur and Tiruchirapalli in the SW, Villupuram, Neyveli and Salem in the W, Tindivanam, Kanchipuram and Tiruvannamalai in the NW, besides regular, long distance buses to Madurai, Coimbatore, Cannanore via Mahe, Bangalore and Tirupathi, all running packed to capacity.
Two years ago, the branch was converted into broad, and electric traction is just to be commissioned. As befits the capital of a union territory, the station has been enlarged with a new island pfm. Two through express trains are to be introduced to Madras, besides a weekly superexpress to Bhubaneswar. The Tirupathy Pass. runs on broad gauge via Chingleput and Arakkonam. But with all these sops, it is doubtful whether the railway will pick up against the roadways. Only long-distance travellers take the trains, but have long waits to face at Madras. There are proposals for a line across to Tindivanam, thence to Tiruvannamalai and Krishnagiri on the Madras - Mangalore line; also a suggestion for a coastal line, close to the East Coast Road, via Mahabalipuram. But these will require huge outlays, and even then the railways will not be able to outwit competition from roadways.
The geographical location of Pondicherry and the existing network of railway lines conspire against its really winning a place in the railway map. It is a no-win situation against the roadways as of now. A real increase in train traffic may arise if Madras Egmore is directly linked to Central, just 1 km away, as proposed, and an express train is run daily in the afternoon from Pondicherry to connect with the many trains that depart there in the evening for the distant places in India.