All you need to know about Pamban rail bridge

India's first vertical lift sea bridge, the Pamban railway bridge, built at ₹535 crore, set for grand inauguration.

The new Pamban railway sea bridge, touted to be India’s first vertical-lift sea bridge, built in Tamil Nadu at a cost of ₹535 crore is just days away from its much-awaited grand inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 6, 2025 (Sunday). This bridge has been constructed to replace the over 110-year-old Pamban bridge that stands next to it, surviving a historic cyclone in the 1960s.

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The 2.05-km long old Pamban bridge with a glorious past is an engineering marvel and served as the sole transportation link between mainland Ramanathapuram and Rameswaram island, that is only a few nautical miles away from Sri Lanka, for over 70 years until a road bridge was built beside it in the late 1980s.

The idea of establishing rail connectivity between India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) through Adam’s Bridge (a chain of natural limestone shoals connecting Rameswaram island in India with Mannar island in Sri Lanka) in the sea was explored way back in 1876.

However, it was only after 18 years, F.J. Waring, the then Chief Resident Engineer of Sri Lankan Railways made the first proposal in 1894 on the behalf of Ceylon government for bridging 22 miles of sea with Adam’s Bridge at a cost of ₹2.59 crore.

Though E.J. Shad Bolt, on behalf of the Indian government, brought the cost down to ₹2.49 crore in 1895, the huge outlay did not justify the anticipated traffic and the idea was abandoned.

Later, in June 1906, a survey to lay track from Madurai to Rameswaram upto Dhanushkodi and to connect Ceylon by steamer service from Dhanushkodi was finalised.