Since Southern Railway announced the development of the Tambaram station as the third terminal, the commuters in the western section, comprising Avadi, Tiruvallur, and Arakkonam, have been demanding the development of the fourth terminal.
When it comes to the development of terminals, Southern Railway seems to be moving at a snail’s pace even in the bullet train era as it is yet to begin work on the third terminal and still clueless about where the fourth terminal will come up after years of deliberations.
In the process of developing the third terminal at Tambaram, the Railway Board has proposed to develop a fourth terminal by accepting the request of the commuters from the western section.
For the present, Southern Railway has proposed to develop Villivakkam as the fourth terminal. It has begun a land survey near the railway station.
While the commuters of the western section are happy that some serious steps have been taken, they are disappointed that the terminal has not been developed at Avadi or Tiruvallur. Both Avadi and Tiruvallur are important stations: the first service was run from Royapuram to Walajah Road Junction through Tiruvallur on July 1, 1856.
Outside city limits
K. Bhaskar, secretary, Thiruvallur Railway Passengers’ Association, points to the need for a terminal outside the city limits, like Tambaram. He says Tiruvallur would be the best place for locating the fourth terminal. The place has enough vacant land near the station and a natural terrain for evacuation of rainwater as the Cooum runs a short distance away, he says. One more advantage is that Tiruvallur district is planned to be made a transport hub, linked with the peripheral roads to Singaperumal Koil and Poonamallee.
The commuters point to the cramped access space on both sides of the Villivakkam station, served by narrow streets, and the problem of operating feeder bus services. In fact, the locality would witness traffic chaos. The establishment of the terminal would affect the suburban train services as the coaching yard would have to be set up in the Integral Coach Factory portion, and there would be a cross-movement if long-distance trains switch from the slow line to the fast line.
‘Vacant land available’
Social activist T. Sadagopan pitches for the fourth terminal at Avadi. He says that suburban train services have already been operated from the Avadi station to the Moore Market Complex and Beach stations and the Annanur depot can be converted into a coaching terminal. He also says the vacant land of the Police Training College is available and there will be an easy link to the Outer Ring Road, which links Red Hills in the north side and Vandalur, which is close to the Kilambakkam bus terminus, in the south.
Chennai Divisional Railway Manager Vishwanath Eerya said recently that Southern Railway could not establish the fourth terminal either at Avadi or at Tiruvallur as land was not available. He said that if the State government came forward to acquire land, as it did for the fourth line from Beach to Egmore, Southern Railway would be happy to establish the fourth terminal either at Avadi or at Tiruvallur.
Relocation of Carriage Works
A senior official of Southern Railway says that though the land survey had begun at the Villivakkam station and railway space was available near the Integral Coach Factory and Perambur Carriage Works, it is too early to comment on the establishment of the fourth terminal as several issues concerning relocation of the Carriage Works need to be considered.
A few years ago, the Salt Cotaurs rail yard, close to the Dr. MGR Central Railway Station, was considered for the fourth terminal and a land survey was done. But the plan was abandoned after it was found that enough space was not available for operating 24-coach trains.
The commuters of the northern and western sections would be disappointed at the slow progress in the selection of the location and the several years the plan would take to proceed from the planning stage to construction. Those travelling to the southern parts of Tamil Nadu are also disappointed at the slow progress of the development of the third terminal at Tambaram.
₹57-crore budget
Confirming that the work on developing the third terminal is yet to start, though demolition of some structures has been completed for widening the platforms, a senior official of the Chennai Division says the Construction Wing of Southern Railway, which will build the terminal infrastructure, has submitted a ₹57-crore budget. Once the funding is released by the Railway Board, the work will begin.
In the Railway Budget for 2024-25, ₹7.50 crore has been allotted for the construction of the Tambaram coaching terminal.
Regular commuters want Southern Railway to speed up the construction of the third terminal, replete with passenger amenities, to ease the congestion at the Central and Egmore stations. At present, the passenger amenities at the station, except for parking, are very few. The platforms are yet to be modified, they say.
