It is going to be the important cargo transportation line connecting Vizhinjam container port and South Indian States.

1898 – Palakkad 1902 – Kochi 1902 – Thrissur 1904 – Kollam 1907 – Kannur 1907 – Kasargod 1918 – Thiruvananthapuram 1956 – Kottayam The Kollam–Sengottai metre-gauge line was conceived and implemented by Maharajah Uthram Thirunal of Travancore.

Metre-gauge services were inaugurated on 1 July 1904 with the first passenger train flagged off from Kollam by Maharajah Moolam Thirunal of Travancore with a 21-gun salute.

The railway line was constructed by the British in the foothills of the Western Ghats to transport forest products, spices and cashews from Kollam to Chennai, their southern headquarters.

British tea estates and coffee plantations thrived on the labour of tribesman living in the Thenmala forests and workers from Tamil Nadu.

Huge quantities of vegetables, groceries and dairy products such as curd were brought into Kollam district from Tamil Nadu by trains that plied the route.

The bridge consists of 13 arches and is a major landmark on the Kollam–Sengottai railway line as well as a testimony to the architectural abilities of the British.

The Kollam Junction–Punalur metre-gauge railway line to broad-gauge conversion works foundation stone was laid in 1998 at Punalur.

Passenger train services connecting Punalur to Kollam, Madurai, Guruvayur, Kanyakumari and Palakkad Junction are currently operational in this route.