RAMESWARAM Transport and Communication
Pamban Bridge (Tamil: பாம்பன் பாலம்) is a cantilever bridge on the Palk Strait that connects Rameswaram to mainland India. The railway bridge is 6,776 ft (2,065 m) and was opened to traffic in 1914. The railroad bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge section that can be raised to let ships pass under it . The railway bridge historically carried metre-gauge trains on it, but Indian Railways
upgraded the bridge to carry broad-gauge trains in a project that
finished on 12 August 2007. Historically, the two leaves of the bridge
were opened manually using levers by workers.
About 10 ships – cargo carriers, coast guard ships, fishing vessels and
oil tankers pass through the bridge every month. After completion of
bridge, metre-gauge lines were laid from Mandapam
up to Pamban Station, from where the railway lines bifurcated into two
directions, one towards Rameswaram about 6.25 miles (10.06 km) up and
another branch line of 15 miles (24 km) terminating at Dhanushkodi. The noted Boat Mail ran on this track between 1915 and 1964 from Chennai Egmore up to Dhanushkodi, from where the passengers were ferried to Talaimannar in Ceylon. The metre-gauge branch line from Pamban Junction to Dhanushkodi was abandoned after it was destroyed in a cyclone in 1964.
There are daily express trains connecting major cities in Tamil Nadu like Chennai, Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore. There are weekly express trains connecting Coimbatore, Varanasi and Bhubaneswar. Passenger trains ply to Madurai and Trichy daily making railways as the majore mode of transportation. The Ramanathapuram – Rameswaram National Highway is the main connecting link to Rameswaram to the mainland.
Prior to the 1914 train service linking the mainland with Rameswaram,
boats were the only mode of transport to ship the pilgrims to Rameswaram
island.
The National highway NH 49 connects Madurai to Dhanushkodi, linking major towns like Manamadurai, Paramakkudi, and Ramanathapuram in the Ramanathapuram district.
The Rameswaram municipality covers a total road length of 52 km and
20 km of national highway covering about 80 percent of the town. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation
runs daily services connecting various cities to Rameswaram and
operates a computerised reservation centre in the municipal bus stand of
Rameswaram.
Rameswaram is the important port among all the ports in the district,
having a ferry service to Talaimannar of Sri Lanka, though not
operational throughout the year. Limited foreign trade is conducted with Jaffna, Kaits, Talaimannar and Colombo.
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