[1] It is a railway terminus of the Villupuram–Pondicherry branch line serving the city of Pondicherry, headquarter of Puducherry Union territory The Puducherry railway line is one of the oldest rail link in India and it was constructed in the year 1879 by the Puducherry Railway Company during the period of French and British rule in India.

It has daily trains connecting the city with Chennai, villuppuram and Tirupathi apart from non-daily trains towards prime cities including Mangaluru, kanyakumari, Bengaluru, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bhubaneshwar and Mumbai via Villupuram.

[3][4][5] The Puducherry railway station is located on Subbiah Salai and is very close to several tourist spots and important locations in the city such as the Main Bus Stand (1.3 km (0.81 mi)), Aurobindo Ashram (1.8 km (1.1 mi)), Chief Secretariat Building (1.9 km (1.2 mi)), and Puducherry Airport (6.8 km (4.2 mi)).

[7] There have also been proposals for constructing 2 pit lanes in the station for train maintenance.

The station underwent a major revamp in 2008 following the launch of new trains connecting it to various destinations.