Suburban train commuters getting down at Guindy railway station will no longer have to take the circuitous route and climb the foot over-bridge to reach the Metro station.
Southern Railway, to provide easy access to commuters to get to the the Guindy Metro station located within the compound of the suburban railway station, is constructing a platform on the west side. Called a double platform, the facility is already available at important stations such as Park, Tambaram, Mambalam and the recently opened Egmore station. It helps in providing quicker access to multi-modal transport facilities.
A senior official of Southern Railway said all these years the provision of island platforms (entry and exit through only one platform) resulted in commuters being forced to use foot over-bridges at railway stations. He said that since the operation of 12-car rakes began, from the earlier nine-car rakes on the Tambaram-Beach section, the foot over-bridges had led to congestion at some important stations. In order to provide better access to Metro stations and bus stops near the railway stations and to de-congest the the foot over-bridges, the railway department has proposed to construct double platforms. As part of this project Mambalam and Egmore have now been provided with double discharge platforms.
The railway official said the new platform work on the western side at Guindy railway station would be completed within this month. Double discharge platforms are proposed to be constructed at Chepet, Nungambakkam, Kodambakkam, Saidapet, St. Thomas Mount, Palavanthangal and Chromepet too. Work will soon start at these stations as well, he added.
