At Land's End

Trip Report: Around Rameswaram; and the lost line to Danushkodi
Date May 3, 2004

This is in continuation of my earlier trip report on the Sethu express. While at Rameswaram, I wanted to visit Danushkodi, which once used to be the farthest point for IR over here. The famous Boat Mail from Egmore used to arrive at this station, next which used to be a pier from where ferry boats to Sri Lanka used to ply. On 22 December 1964, a severe storm wiped out Danushkodi in its entirety. This storm derailed and submerged the the last passenger train to ever travel to Danushkodi, the Pamban - Danushkodi passenger, as it was entering the Danushkodi station. As if that were not enough, the old Pamban bridge across the Palk strait was completely destroyed. That spelt the death knell to the railway and commerce at Danushkodi. However, the Pamban bridge was rebuilt in record time and rail service was resumed to Rameswaram, but not Danushkodi.

From Rameswaram, I travelled along the NH49 to Danushkodi. There have been some photos of rail tracks hidden under the sand on this route, and I wanted to locate them. The highway is very smooth and has very gentle grades, so much so that I began to wonder whether it really a newly designed highway. For I suspected that the road with its gentle grades resembled a railway line, and this was further confirmed when I learnt that a railway track used to exist here.

Soon we reached the end of NH49, but Danushkodi was still 5km away. This was called Mundram Chatram, and there is a bus service till here. The place was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the sea on both sides and only a few huts here and there. Also, there was heavy rain, making the sea look ferocious. But the main purpose of my trip down here was to go to Danushkodi and if possible, locate the railway station that once existed there. So, we got into a van that made its way along the beach (yes, right on the sands!!) and sometimes in the water itself!!! The old highway and the railway line had been completely destroyed, I was told.

Ultimately, we reached what was once a thriving sea port, with regular trading with Sri Lanka, i.e. Danushkodi. The place looks absolutely absolutely beautiful, surrounded on two sides by the sea, the narrow strip of land ending at what used to be a port. Alas, today there remains only a few ramshackle huts, in which the survivors live, surrounded by the ruins. I set out to find the railway station ruins, if at all they still existed. But I could not locate it, but saw only the reamins of a school, a passport office, and a water tank (possibly for railway use???).

I sought out a local, an old person, who was around when the town existed. He said that the railway station used to start at the spot my van was standing and extend till the very end of the strip of land. My van was standing on the remains of an old road, so my guess was right, that the current road has been built on the old railway alignment. However, all the station buildings had been destroyed completely, he said. The old town had come up, with the railway station at the centre. This I could attest to, as all the ruins I saw were located around the area the station used to occupy. So, the station was the mainstay of the town. The person also said that daily, there used to be six trains arriving and six departing, giving me an impression of a busy station. So it should have had a yard and at least 3 platforms. Though the area which he said was the 'railway plot' was large, nothing remains of the station. What a pity indeed!! The thought of a once busy town, served mainly by a railway line (belonging to South Indian Railway??) and continuous arrival and departure of steam hauled MG trains, with all their accompaniments, getting completely destroyed due to a single storm depressed me. The whole place, though very beautiful especially in the rainy backdrop, has a strong feeling of nostalgia to it. I could but only marvel at the skill of the railway engineers of yore, who had designed and constructed a bridge across the sea and an MG line over the shifting sands of Rameswaram island till this tip of land called Danushkodi, right next to the pier, so that trade was facilitated. How wonderful it would be if the old railway could be brought back into existence!! (It seems SR has a plan to contruct a line to Danushkodi, though I have no idea of when it will be done).

I returned back to the raod by the van, constantly looking out for the now disused railway tracks. I spotted it halfway to RMM, right next to the highway, a small stretch of MG tracks, half submerged in sand. If I recall correctly, there were some photos of these very tracks (by ISA??) in the IRFCA picture gallery. Are they still around? No wonder the highway had so gentle grades. I remember, after seeing these tracks, the highway took a sudden turn towards RMM then there were quite a few steep grades. It was consistent with my knowledge that the line to Danushkodi did not pass through RMM, which got confirmed later (next part of the report).

I returned to my hotel, wishing that Danushkodi would soon regain its old importance and more importantly (to me :))) its lost railway connection.

For further reports, please refer the menu on to the left side of the page. This report continues at Rameswaram-Karaikkudi. Thanks for a patient reading!