A decade ago, the nod for a ₹ 21.96 crore railway under bridge at Korattur was given. On October 28, the vehicular facility was opened, making the ordeal of having to take a five-kilometre detour to reach CTH Road a thing of the past for motorists. The new facility replaces the railway level crossing (LC No: 04) in Korattur.
This railway under bridge a joint project of the Southern Railway and the State Highways Department, will provide easy access to areas in the northern part of the neighbourhood including Agraharam, Balaji Nagar, Sivalingapuram, Kavya Nagar, Saradha Nagar and Subbulakshmi Nagar.
“We are glad that the railway under bridge opened before heavy rains as it is going to provide residents with easy access to neighbouring areas,” says V. Sampath, a resident of Korattur. Over the years, residents and motorists have had to take a detour of at least five kilometres while heading to many other parts of the city via CTH Road.
With the inauguration of the railway under bridge — which is usually referred to as a subway — commuting challenges faced by motorists can be expected to come to an end as they can reach Anna Nagar in less than five minutes via Padi on Chennai–Tiruvallur High (CTH) Road. It also prevents motorists from the neighbourhood from using the Retteri route, which is mainly used by container lorries and is also prone to accidents.
The two-way bridge is around 800 metres long and 30 feet wide. Basic facilities including concrete median, LED street lights, stormwater drains, reflectors and bitumen-topped service lanes are some of features provided in the railway under bridge. Staircases on the facility are also being built to enable users to reach the railway station safely.
Additional motor pumpsets are also kept in the storeroom near the staircase for any emergencies arising due to the monsoon hitting the city. Earlier, the track portion of the new subway was done by the Southern Railways as it involves movement of trains. Rest of the work, including land acquisition on either side of the track outside the railway station where service roads and the subway would be connected with the residential areas, was undertaken by the State Highways.
Four- track station
Korattur railway station, located on Chennai Central – Arakkonam section, has four tracks with two of them being used for suburban rail network.
The existing Foot Over Bridge (FOB) at the station is mainly used by commuters to reach the platforms at the station.
Pre-COVID days, more than 40,000 commuters used to board trains at the Korattur railway station every day.
On an average, around 260 trips are made by suburban trains on the western rail route between Chennai Central and Arakkonam, which is the last suburban railway station on the western part of the city.
In fact, after Chennai Beach – Tambaram section, the Chennai Central – Arakkonam where the Korattur railway station forms part of the route is the busiest suburban rail route in the city connecting commuters as far as Tirutani, Tiruvallur and Arakkonam.
