Chromepet railway station

Route map

Legend Chennai Beach — Villupuram North Line West Line 0.00 Chennai Beach Blue Line High Court 1.80 Chennai Fort  MRTS  3.07 Chennai Central 3.07 Chennai Park 3.07 Parktown MRTS 4.32 Chennai Egmore Green Line 6.56 Chetput Cooum River 8.15 Nungambakkam 9.68 Kodambakkam 11.29 Mambalam 12.90 Saidapet Adyar River 15.01 GuindyBlue Line 17.12 St. Thomas Mount Green Line│ MRTS  18.75 Pazhavanthangal 20.04 Meenambakkam Blue Line 21.22 Tirusulam 23.15 Pallavaram 25.35 Chromepet 27.36 Tambaram Sanatorium 29.14 Tambaram 32.64 Perungalathur 34.44 Vandalur 37.50 Urapakkam 40.41 Guduvancheri 43.94 Potheri 45.85 Kattangulathur 46.96 Maraimalai Nagar 51.48 Singaperumal Koil 55.59 Paranur 59.84 Chengalpattu Junction to Arakkonam 63.00 Tirumani 68.37 Ottivakkam 73.08 Padalam 80.83 Karunguzhi 84.48 Maduranthakam 91.07 Pakkam 95.37 Melmaruvathur 98.21 Acharapakkam 104.27 Tozhuppedu 109.44 Karasangal 113.86 Olakur 118.59 Panchalam 125.48 Tindivanam 134.84 Mailam 143.44 Perani 149.92 Vikravandi 156.44 Mundiyampakkam to Katpadi 162.76 Viluppuram Junction

Location

Chromepet railway station is one of the railway stations of the Chennai Beach–Chengelpet section of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. It serves the neighbourhoods of Chromepet, Chitlapakkam, and surrounding areas. It is situated about 25 km (16 mi) from Chennai Beach, and has an elevation of 23.41 m (76.8 ft) above sea level.

History

Chromepet railway station lies on the Chennai Beach—Tambaram suburban section of the Chennai Suburban Railway, which was opened to traffic on 11 May 1931. The tracks were electrified on 15 November 1931.^[1] The section was converted to 25 kV AC traction on 15 January 1967.^[2]

In 1998, the railways decided to replace the level crossing at the north side of the station with a subway. In 2008, the project was re-designed as a road under bridge (RUB) with the involvement of the highways department to allow all vehicles. However, in late 2008, following objections from about 400 families residing on either side of the level crossing, the design was changed again to a limited-use subway, measuring 33 m (108 ft) long, 8.3 m (27 ft) wide and 3.5 m (11 ft) high. On 27 February 2009, construction of the ₹ 75.5-million limited-use subway began. However, the work has been stalled due to land acquisition problems.^[3]

The level crossing on the south side of the station, called "MIT Gate" was closed in January 2000 and construction of a massive ROB with four ramps on the GST road, a rotary on top and a two lane ramp extending over the tracks to the eastern side which connected with the Chitlappakam main road was commenced. After prolonged construction due to litigation by affected families, change of state government during the interim period etc., it was completed and thrown open to public in January 2006. Now known popularly as the "MIT Flyover", it serves as a vital lifeline for the populace of Nehru Nagar, Hastinapuram, Chitlapakkam and surrounding areas to easily access the GST road.

The station

Platforms

There are a total of 4 platforms and 4 tracks. The platforms are connected by foot overbridge. These platforms are built to accumulate 24 coaches express train. The platforms are equipped with modern facility like display board of arrival and departure of trains.

Station layout

Safety

In the Guindy–Chengalpet stretch of the suburban section, which suffers from more fatal accidents of about 30 people a month^[4] compared to other stretches of the suburban network, the Chromepet–Tambaram stretch remains the deadliest with at least 15 accidents occurring every month as of 2011.^[5] Of the 181 people killed on the tracks between Guindy and Chengalpet in 2011, one-fourth were killed on the tracks between Chromepet and Tambaram stations.^[3]

The station also lacks several basic amenities.^[6]

In June 2014, an FOB connecting the Chromepet bus stand on the GST road with the Chromepet railway station was completed. It has 2 stairs on either side of the GST road, a slope on one of those sides, and 2 working escalators on both sides for climbing the FOB instead of taking the pain to climb stairs. It connects the existing FOB of the Chromepet railway station.

See also

• Chennai Suburban Railway
• Railway stations in Chennai

References

External links

• Chromepet railway station at Indiarailinfo.org