What is Royapuram railway station?
The '''Royapuram''' railway station is a [[train station]] at [[Royapuram]]. It is on the [[Chennai Beach]]–[[Arakkonam]] section of the [[Chennai Suburban Railway]] network in [[Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]]. It is one of the oldest railway station currently functioning in India (the original structures of the two older stations, Bombay and Thane, are no longer operational). It is also the first railway station of [[South India]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Third oldest railway station in country set to turn 156 |newspaper=Deccan Chronicle |location=Chennai |publisher=Deccan Chronicle |url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/third-oldest-railway-station-country-set-turn-156-518 |access-date=27 Jun 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629014508/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/third-oldest-railway-station-country-set-turn-156-518 |archive-date=29 June 2012 }}</ref> The first train of South India started operating in June 1856 from Royapuram railway station. The station also remained the headquarters of the [[Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway]] till 1922, when the headquarters was shifted to [[Chennai Egmore|Egmore]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/financecode/ADMIN_FINANCE/AdminFinanceCh1_Data.htm| title=Chapter 1 - Evolution of Indian Railways-Historical Background| publisher=Ministry of Railways website}}</ref> Since the original structures of Bombay and Thane stations no longer exist, Royapuram station remains the oldest railway station in the entire subcontinent.<ref>{{cite news | title = The train to Royapuram | newspaper = Live Mint.com | location = Chennai | publisher = LiveMint.com | url = http://www.livemint.com/2012/05/25202444/The-train-to-Royapuram.html | access-date = 26 May 2012}}</ref> The Royapuram railway station ranks second in India in terms of space availability with 246,000&nbsp;sq&nbsp;m, next to the [[Howrah railway station|Howrah station]] in [[Kolkata]]. ==References==