Passengers suffer as Tambaram awaits 2 additional platforms for 2 years

CHENNAI: There were big plans to make the Tambaram railway station the third terminus in the city after MGR Chennai Central and Egmore Railway Station, but development works are moving at a snail’s pace, especially the construction of platforms 9 and 10 are delayed for years together, making the dreams remain unrealised.

Commuters say that the platform construction work started two years ago and works are not completed yet. This is hampering the facilities of passengers, as Tambaram railway station has been attracting increasing footfall after the huge development of the capital city’s suburbs who find it easy to reach the station, instead of Egmore or Central.

A seller in the station said, “The work started a very long time ago. The work stopped for a long time. The foot over bridge (FOB) in the platform was started only recently.”

Vignesh B, a regular commuter who uses the Tambaram station often said that even after two years the Southern Railways is lagging behind in completing infrastructure development. He lamented that there were no signs of completion in the near future.

“An increase in the number of platforms would lead to more number of train services in this Station which is easy to reach for people living in places like Velachery. Especially passengers from the South use the station which could help them a lot. At present there are only eight platforms and the station is supposed to get two more. The works must be completed without any further delay,” said P Viswanathan, a resident of Chitlapakkam.

Speaking about the delay in completion of works Dayanand Krishnan, a civic activist said, “The work is at a very slow pace in the railway station. FOB construction also started two years ago and provisions for additional escalators are also pending. Even the station redevelopment scheme tender was announced in 2019 and the detailed project report (DPR) is not shared in the public domain.

“Tambaram railway station has a huge area of land and has the potential to be a huge transportation hub if developed properly,” he added.

When contacted, a senior official attached to the Southern Railway said that the works of the platforms would be commissioned by August this year. He also mentioned that the platform works don’t come under the redevelopment scheme but are under the routine works done by the railways.

When asked about the state of redevelopment works he stated that the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has to prepare a detailed project report (DPR). It is currently under preparation and will take two weeks’ time to be ready.