The Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway was a railway company that operated in southern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It was founded on January 1, 1908, by merging the Madras Railway and the Southern Mahratta Railway. Initially, its headquarters was at Royapuram

Royapuram

Royapuram , a locality of Chennai, South India, is the place where the first railway station of south India was constructed, and from where the laying down of the second railway line of the South Asia commenced in the 1850s. This railway line extended from Royapuram to Arcot, then capital of the...

 in Madras but later shifted to a newly constructed building at Egmore

Egmore

-Main places:* Chennai Egmore railway station.* Office of the commissioner of Greater Chennai Police department.* Government Museum, Chennai.* Connemara Public Library, one of the biggest libraries in India.* National Art Gallery...

, which was inaugurated on December 11, 1922. On April 1, 1944, its management was taken over directly by the Government of India. On 14 April 1951, the Madras and South Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway and the Mysore State Railway were merged together to form the Southern Railway

Southern Railway (India)

The Southern Railway is the earliest of the 16 zones of the Indian Railways created in independent India. It was created on April 14, 1951 by merging three state railways namely Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway, and the Mysore State Railway. The South Indian Railway...

, one of the 16 zones of the Indian Railways

Indian Railways

Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....

.