Trivandrum–Nagercoil–Kanniyakumari and Tirunelveli–Nagercoil construction projects were inaugurated by the then Prime minister Mrs.Indira Gandhi on 6 September 1972.

The western line runs through some huge artificial ground-elevations and a number of hill-tunnels.

Kanyakumari district is connected through direct train services with all leading metropolitan cities in India like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

The Chennai–Nagercoil sector is the largest profit making line in south India, which brought in ₹346 crore (US$40 million) in 2011.

[7][8] 11.38 crore rupees have been allocated for the renovation work of Nagercoil railway station under the Amrit Bharat scheme.