Pamban Bridge to Rameswaram

The railway from Madurai to Rameswaram runs 161 kilometres east across the plains of southern Tamil Nadu to the coast at Mandapam, and then goes to sea. The temple town of Rameswaram stands on Pamban Island, and the last stretch onto it is the New Pamban Bridge: 2.07 kilometres across the Palk Strait, opened on 6 April 2025, and India's first vertical-lift railway sea bridge.

Here the railway gives way to the sea. When a large fishing boat needs the channel, the 72.5-metre span at the middle of the bridge rises 17 metres between two white towers, track and all, and the trains wait. The bridge it replaced, opened in 1914, stands alongside: its two leaves were lifted by hand, with levers, until trains stopped crossing it in December 2022. For more than two years after that, no train reached the island.

Trains leave Madurai Junction heading east and reach Manamadurai, where the branch to Rameswaram begins. From there the line runs out across the plains, past Paramakudi on the Vaigai river and Ramanathapuram, the old seat of the Setupathi rajas who held the way to the island, to the coast at Mandapam. The whole line is single track and broad gauge, converted from metre gauge in 2006.

Over the sea

Beyond Mandapam the train slows onto the bridge. The New Pamban Bridge was built by Rail Vikas Nigam for the Ministry of Railways and stands about three metres higher than the old one, on piers made for two tracks, though only one is laid. Trains may run at up to 75 km/h, and at 50 km/h over the lift span. On one side is what is left of the 1914 bridge, which is being taken down; on both, open water and fishing boats.

The train comes off the bridge at Pamban Junction, once the start of a branch to Dhanushkodi at the tip of the island, which the cyclone of December 1964 destroyed along with the town. The last eleven kilometres run along the island to Rameswaram. The whole ride takes under three hours by the Amritha Express, which comes through from Thiruvananthapuram, and about three and a half by the stopping passenger trains.

Overnight trains come from Chennai too. Most cross the bridge in the dark, but the 16751 from Tambaram is on it at about eight in the morning. Otherwise, for the view, take a day train from Madurai, or leave the island in the afternoon.

Every train below runs daily. The passenger trains are unreserved; the Amritha Express and the trains from Chennai are reserved, with sleeper and AC berths.

Madurai to Rameswaram

Rameswaram to Madurai

From Chennai, overnight

The 22661 leaves Chennai Egmore at 17:55 and reaches Rameswaram at 04:00; the 22662 returns at 21:10, reaching Egmore at 07:20. From Tambaram, in Chennai's southern suburbs, the 16103 leaves at 18:10 and arrives at 05:45, and the 16751 runs by way of Kumbakonam and Thanjavur, leaving at 21:02 and arriving at 09:00. Back, the 16104 leaves Rameswaram at 16:00 and the 16752 at 18:00, reaching Tambaram at 03:45 and 06:28.

Times are from IRCTC and the trains' published schedules, as of October 2026. Check your train on IRCTC (opens in a new tab) before travelling.

The passenger trains need no booking: buy an unreserved ticket at the station counter before boarding. Second class from Madurai to Rameswaram costs about ₹40.

Seats and berths on the Amritha Express and the trains from Chennai are sold by IRCTC, Indian Railways' booking service, online and in its app. Book early: nine days before Thursday 22 October 2026, every class we checked on the Amritha Express, the 16751 and the 22661 already had a waiting list. The fares below are those IRCTC quoted for that day, one way.

No rail pass covers the line to Rameswaram. Interrail and Eurail are European schemes, and India is not among the countries in Interrail's list of covered railway companies. Indian Railways' own pass for foreign visitors, the Indrail Pass, was withdrawn by Railway Board order on 19 September 2017. Every journey is bought as a ticket for a train, through IRCTC or at the station.

A pass would not help here anyway. The passenger train from Madurai costs about ₹40, and even a First AC berth on the Amritha Express is under ₹1,200.

Checked October 2026 against Interrail's list of railway companies (opens in a new tab) and the Indrail Pass (opens in a new tab).

Rameswaram is the base for the island, and Dhanushkodi is a short road trip from it. Madurai, at the other end of the line, deserves a day of its own before or after the ride.

Stay a night on the island to see the temple and Dhanushkodi: the morning trains from Madurai reach Rameswaram in time to visit the temple the same day. Madurai, at the other end of the line, is the base for the night before.

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