Chennai Central, Egmore station redevelopment is yet to start

Despite being considered for over a decade, bringing world-class services to the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MG Ramachandran Central and Chennai Egmore railway stations remains a non-starter. Various schemes to redevelop these stations have been proposed from time to time. After receiving approval from the Central Government, a project to commercially develop the land surrounding the Central Station was launched in 2017. Suresh Prabhu, the then-railway minister, announced a plan to develop commercial facilities on 1 acre near the station, with an additional 45 acres earmarked for future development, but nothing has changed on the ground. Meanwhile, the railways has already converted a few stations into airport-like facilities, including Habib Ganj in Bhopal and the MV Visvesvaraya terminal in Bengaluru. Requests for proposals for the redevelopment of the CST stations in Delhi and Mumbai have also been issued. While Egmore is on the list of stations that will be upgraded to world-class facilities, Central is not. According to a senior railway official, the Indian Railway Station Development Corporation has included Egmore in its redevelopment plan. The official added that the plan for Egmore has yet to be submitted. Many of the plans, according to T Sadagopan, a consumer activist, are still on paper or will take a long time to implement. He said that state government agencies also submit reports on a regular basis to improve passenger amenities, such as access to suburban stations.These two were never put into practice. MPs should research the requirements and press the state government and the railway ministry to meet them. Southern Railway has added amenities for passengers at Egmore and Central while redevelopment takes place. Image Source Also read: Railways prioritises completion of 126 projects worth Rs 115k cr Also read: Govt approves cab-based signalling system for Railways