Southern Railway zone in the context of "States of India"

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR), colloquially called the "Toy Train" by locals, is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway in Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908. The railway is operated by the Southern Railway and is the only rack railway in India.

The railway relies on its fleet of steam locomotives. NMR switched to diesel locomotives on the section between Mettupalyam and Udhagamandalam. Local people and visitors led a campaign to return to steam locomotives in this section.

Mettupalayam railway station (station code: MTP) is an NSG–4 category Indian railway station in Salem railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is a railway station located in Mettupalayam, a suburb of Coimbatore district in the Indian state Tamil Nadu. It is one of the important railway stations located in the Coimbatore District, because the Nilgiri Mountain Railway to the hill station of Ooty starts from here. It is the connection between the metre-gauge Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the broad-gauge main network of Indian Railways. It recently celebrated its 150th anniversary.

The Grand Trunk Express operated from Mettupalayam to Peshawar from 15 October 1929 and was extended to Lahore from 1 March 1930. Later that year, on 1 September 1930, it was changed to New Delhi to Chennai, which remains the case till today. The Tea Garden Express ran in metre gauge between Ooty and Mettupalayam and broad gauge between Mettupalayam and Cochin Harbour Terminus. Post-Indian independence, the Ooty–Mettupalayam trip was cut off, and the train ran as No. 565/566 between Cochin Harbour Terminus and Mettupalayam since the 1970s. Today the Nilgiri Express (also known as the Blue Mountain Express) covers Chennai to Mettupalayam and acts as the link to Ooty. Nilgiri Express used to be the main portion of Bangalore Mail, Island Express, Malabar Express and Mumbai–Coimbatore (through coach bifurcate/amalgamate to Chennai–Mumbai Mail).

Tharangambadi Junction (station code: TQB) is a junction railway station serving the town of Tharangambadi in Mayiladuthurai District of Tamil Nadu, India.

The station is a part of the Tiruchirappalli railway division of the Southern Railway zone and connects the town to various parts of the state as well as the rest of the country. It is classified as an "A" category railway station in the Trichy railway division of the Southern Railway Zone. And now it is electrified and some trains runs with the help of electric locos. There are 2 routes originating from this junction and a single line touches in this junction they are: Mayiladuthurai to Tharangambadi (this line has only in gauge conversion work going on, but no works are started in last 25 years and now also), Mayiladuthurai to Thiruvarur (this line has electrified), and the Chennai to Tiruchirapalli line called main line also connected in Mayiladuthurai junction. There was another station which served eastern part of the town called Mayuram Town [station code: MVM]. Railways had done DPR's multiple times for Mayiladuthurai - Tharangambadi - Karaikal as current route is circular route which connects port with Salem Junction. Major revenue generation of Tiruchirapalli division comes from Freight services connecting Karaikal port with Salem and other parts of Tamilnadu. Govt is considering a new line in Mayiladuthurai - Karaikal as this is viable option for easier transport of goods. Also there is another proposal to connect Karaikal - Salem via Karaikal - Mayiladuthurai - Jayamkondam - Ariyalur - Perambalur - Salem