The new Pamban Bridge and story of the 1964 cyclone, when a train full of passengers was washed away

With its genesis in the Indo-Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) trade during the British Era, the old bridge stood firm even during the horrific 1964 tsunami when a train full of passengers was washed away. According to railway officials, the new bridge is a testament to the railways’ engineering prowess and has elevated the benchmark of India’s infrastructure.

The old bridge played an important role in trade and pilgrimage for over a century. (Ministry of Railways).

The old bridge

The construction of the old Pamban Bridge started in 1911 and was opened to traffic in 1914. It was India’s first sea bridge, built for trade. In those days of British rule, the ships used to ply between two ports – Dhanushkodi, at the south-eastern tip of the Pamban or Rameswaram Island, and now abandoned, and Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. During the 1964 Tsunami, Dhanushkodi was entirely destroyed and it is still uninhabited.

The old bridge had a double-leaf bascule section with a Scherzer rolling-type lift span that used to be raised to let ships pass. It is considered a technical marvel as the bridge was constructed with lesser availability and the corrosive environment it withstood. It remained India’s longest sea link until the Bandra-Worli sea link opened in 2010.

The 1964 cyclone

On the night of December 23, 1964, a fierce tidal wave or tsunami hit Pamban Island very badly. The six coaches of the 653 Pamban-Dhanushkodi Passenger train crossed the bridge at around 11 pm and were en route to Dhanushkodi from Rameswaram.

Dhanushkodi was the railhead for Indo-Ceylon traffic from where steamer service run by the Southern Railway to Talaimannar in Ceylon was available. It is the extreme point on Rameswaram Island. The island is approached from Mandapam, crossing the sea by the Pamban Bridge, beyond which Pamban Junction is situated. The line here branches off into two directions- one going to Rameswaram to the North-east and the other towards Dhanushkodi to the East. To its south is the Gulf of Mannar.

However, the train could not reach the destination, and it was completely washed away to sea, so much so that only the engine of the train was visible in the morning

“On account of severe stormy conditions, none of the staff at Dhanushkodi or Rameswaram road could go out and ascertain the fate of the train. The staff at Dhanushkodi themselves got marooned as the sea water flooded the entire area including the colony and the yard. The only dry spot of land available was the station building. In the morning at 06.00 hours when there was a lull in the storm, the staff could see nothing but a huge sheet of water spread on the Rameswaram Road side. The fate of the train could only be known on the morning of December 24, 1964 when some of the staff noticed the chimney of the engine projecting out water,” reads the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) report, released in 1967, on the incident.

While the exact number of deaths is not known, the report noted that it is said that there were 100 to 110 passengers on the train and 18 Railway employees, all of whom lost their lives. Some estimates suggest that this number can be as high as 250.

While the old Pamban bridge withstood the Tsunami, it was severely damaged to the level that except for the Scherzer Span, out of 146 spans, 126 spans got washed away. Also two piers of the bridge got washed away.

Sreedharan and fishermen

Before he became famous for the Delhi Metro, India’s legendary engineer, also called Metro Man of India, the restoration of the Pamban Bridge was one of the earliest major works of E. Sreedharan.

“I was having my Christmas holiday at my native place. I got a special message that you are required to report to the chief engineer immediately in Chennai. At that time the railway ministry took the stance that we will not restore the bridge because the restoration will be such a big task and expensive. Also there was already a proposal for a road construction. But the MPs from North India, who had great attachment to Rameshwaram, insisted that the bridge should be restored and six month time was given. The general manager set the timeline of three months. But I was able to restore the bridge in just 46 days,” said Sreedharan in an interview to a webportal in 2021.

However, the success of Sreedharan in restoring the bridge in such a short time lies in the efforts made by the fishermen. When Sreedharan and Railways officials were charting out a plan to bring girders from across the country to re-build the bridge, one day a fisherman informed him that he saw a girder lying around 2-km far from the site. This was a major breakthrough and a big operation was carried out to retrieve all the girders from the bottom of the sea.

Later, all 126 girders were recovered and the bridge was restored within 46 days.

The new bridge

The old bridge played an important role in trade and pilgrimage for over a century. Due to corrosion, high maintenance and operational challenges, the decision to construct a new Pamban bridge was taken and the foundation stone for the new bridge was laid in 2019.

The new 2.08 kilometers long structure stands three metres higher than the old Pamban Bridge. It allows the smaller ships to pass beneath without lifting the span. According to the Ministry of Railways, the bridge has been constructed with 99 spans of 18.3 meters each, with a 72.5 meter vertical lift span at its centre that can be raised up to 17 meters to accommodate larger vessels when needed.

The bridge has been designed with dual railway tracks and built with 333 piles and 101 pile caps, which will allow the heavy freight trains as well as advanced semi-high speed trains like Vande Bharat to traverse it.