The Tambaram Railway Station is getting ready to become the third terminal of the Chennai Railway Division after Chennai Central and Egmore. With more modern facilities being created, it is becoming one of the railway terminals of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network.
Sources with Southern Railway said that the civil work on the coach terminal wa complete, and it was ready for launch. Augmenting train services from Tambaram terminal requires more coach allotments and Chennai Division officials have been in touch with the Railway Board and coach suppliers.
A decision was made a few years ago to decongest Chennai Egmore and have a terminal at Tambaram to operate a few trains from there. Over a period of time several Express/Super Fast trains were diverted from Chennai Central to Egmore. But to decongest Egmore station, two daily express trains — Circar Express to Kakinada Port and Kacheguda Express to Kacheguda — are being operated from the Chengalpet junction. Sources said that they were focussing on improving passenger amenities at various stations on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram section. Once they get clearance from the Railway Ministry, the terminal would start functioning.
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Focus on infrastructure
After taking up work on the second entrance on the Velachery Main Road, the Tambaram railway station has achieved many milestones in terms of infrastructure. Additional platforms, water facilities, escalators connecting the eastern and western sides of the station, CCTV cameras on platforms and at entry and exit points, clean and litter-free platforms are some of the additions that were made in the past two years, said a railway official. The latest addition is food plazas on both sides of the station. The credit for this would go to the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation. The construction of food plazas began in November last year, with an investment of ₹3 to ₹4 crore and it took about 8 months to complete. The objective is to dish out quality food from popular outlets to passengers coming to Tambaram station, he said.