Redevelopment of railway stations moving at snail’s pace in Chennai

Southern Railway promised to finish the work on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu corridor in six months. While more than one-and-a-half years have passed, the project is moving at a slow pace with progress made only at the Chennai Park station, say sources

At a time when thousands of suburban commuters are suffering from poor amenities at railway stations, especially along the Chennai Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu section, the announcement that 15 railway stations of the Chennai division would be developed under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (ABSS) came as a big relief.

The scheme was announced in January 2023 and the work was initiated in a few stations in March 2023. The Southern Railway had promised to complete the work in six months and appointed a project consultant to monitor the progress of the work. While more than one-and-a-half years have passed, the ABSS project on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu corridor is progressing at a snail’s pace with only Chennai Park station witnessing good progress in construction work, sources said.

Seven railway stations — Chennai Beach, Park, St. Thomas Mount, Guindy, Mambalam, Guduvancheri and Chengalpattu — out of the 15 were selected on the Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu section for redevelopment. Of this, 75% of work has been completed at the Park railway station and the prospects for inaugurating it by year-end appear bright.

In the remaining six railway stations, which register heavy footfall daily, not even 50%of work has been completed, sources add.

Giving details of the progress report of the project in the seven railway stations, a senior official of the Chennai division of Southern Railway said if not for the fourth line project that is coming up between Egmore and Beach, the ABSS project would have been completed in Park and Beach by this time.

High footfall

For any project to be completed fast, there should not be any hindrance in the form of human movement. But all the railway stations where the ABSS project is being executed are important railway stations with large footfalls, he pointed out. Also, the Chennai division had the responsibility to maintain normal train operations, the official said.

“The railway station upgradation project is witnessing good progress and the works will be completed by the end of the financial year 2024-25,” he said.

The progress of renovation work at Park railway station has been brisk with the completion of shelters for the four platforms. Work is under progress for construction of the ticket counter, entrance canopy, a landmark tower, resurfacing of flooring the platforms, renovation of the existing foot over bridge (FOB), construction of pedestrian pathway and compound, along with the civil works for installation of lift, officials said.

Similarly, the construction work at the St. Thomas Mount railway station was also progressing smoothly with several civil works completed. At the station, which is set to become a multi-transport hub because of the convergence of Metro, Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) and the suburban line, construction works of the booking counter on the Metro side, entry points at the Metro and Tambaram end were in full swing. Work was in progress for the waiting area, platform resurfacing and shelter roofing. Also, the revamping of the old roofing sheets on platforms including 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the FOB was over, officials said.

While several civil works have been completed in the Mambalam, Guindy, Guduvanchery and Chengalpattu stations, works are proceeding slowly at the Beach station.

Repaving parking space, civil works

The railway officials said that at the Mambalam, Guindy, Guduvanchery and Chengalpattu stations, nearly 50% work had been completed with the construction of ticket counters, the main façade on the West Mambalam side, construction of booking office on Ranganathan Street side, platform shelters, resurfacing of flooring of the platforms. Repair works on the existing FOB had been speeded up. The repaving of the parking space and civil works for installation of lifts had also been completed, the officials said.

Several civil works at the Guindy, Guduvanchery and Chengalpattu railway stations including entrance arch, circulating area, resurfacing of platforms, construction of new public toilets work on the Race Course side and lift civil works were in progress at Guindy railway station. Replacement of the roofing sheet of the platforms had been fully completed in all these railway stations, they added.

The Southern Railway is also speeding up the civil works of paving access road to the Chengalpattu railway station, along with developing a modern concourse and VIP lounge waiting halls to make it a transport hub next to Tambaram railway station.

Only 25% of work done

The construction work at Beach railway station, which is where all the suburban trains, including MRTS, converge, is progressing slowly.

The historic railway station located next to the Royapuram railway station has been crying for attention for several years where only 25% of civil works have been completed.

The railway officials said at the Beach station, resurfacing the flooring in all platforms, parking area and pedestrian entry zones were in progress and these works would be completed by the end of October. The installation of new FOB and refurbishing of the two old FOBs would be taken up shortly, the officials added.

S. Raghavan, a regular commuter from Guduvanchery, said the passenger amenities at the railway stations beyond Tambaram remained quite neglected though the suburban train services from Chengalpattu to Beach remain the backbone for thousands of office-goers, traders and women commuters.

The commuters on the Chengalpattu section, pointing out the completion of the third line between Tambaram and Chengalpattu, wanted the construction of the fourth line to be speeded up and also the halt station at Kilamabakkam. Once the halt station at Kilambakkam is built, the number of passengers will increase and so the fourth line would help in providing dedicated suburban train services from Chennai Beach station, they added.

Published - October 08, 2024 11:02 pm IST