CHENNAI EGMORE RAILWAY STATION – THE NEW PRIDE OF CHENNAI

Chennai Egmore Railway station is one of the endearing structures of Chennai city sporting the Gothic style of architecture with imposing domes and corridors. The 114 year old station, the second major terminal of Southern Railway, is proposed for redevelopment to cope up with the ever increasing passenger volumes and also satisfying the aspirations and demands of a modern commuter. This NSG-1 category railhead handles more than 562 scheduled trains (442 Suburban Trains and 120 Mail/Express) daily, with an average peak hour footfall of 24,600. Award of Contract Southern Railway has awarded the work of Redevelopment of Chennai Egmore Railway Station as EPC contract to M/s DEC Infrastructure & Projects India Private Limited, Hyderabad on 07.10.2022 at a cost of Rs. 734.91 Crores, setting a time frame of 36 months for completion of the project. The sanctioned cost of the project is Rs. 842 crores. M/s Tata Consulting Engineers, Mumbai have been tasked with the work of Project Management services (PMS). The PMS consultant isresponsible for monitoring the project. Roadmap to Redevelopment Construction of two new station buildings The major scope of the Re-development work includes Construction of New Station buildings (G+3 structures) on both sides of the station (Gandhi-Irwin side & Poonamallee road side), Arrival/Departure Concourses, Arrival/ Parcel FOB, Multi-level car parking Redeveloped Chennai Egmore will offer superior infrastructure & novel facilities for passengers The main entrance to Chennai Egmore is situated on the Gandhi-Irwin Road and the rear entrance on Poonamallee High Road. The redevelopment project of Chennai Egmore Railway Station is planned at both the sides, i.e., Gandhi Irwin and Poonamalle Road sides of the existing station building for a total built up area of about 1,35,406 sq.m. The redevelopment is intended to provide an iconic structure with modern state-of-the-art facilities while retaining the heritage value of the existing structure. (MLCP) on both sides of the station, External development works, Refurbishment of the existing Station building, Provision of Arrival/Departure plazas, utility shifting etc. with connectivity to all platforms facilitated by escalators and lifts and importantly to Egmore Metro Station. The station will be upgraded to house additional toilets, drinking water coolers, shaded seating , escalators, lifts and differently-abled friendly facilities. Dedicated arrival / departure terminals The redeveloped station will facilitate efficient handling of trains and hassle free passenger movement besides providing facilities for maintenance and operations. Arrival and Departure passengers will be segregated at platforms, concourse and circulating areas akin to the system prevalent in airports. Three Foot Over Bridges will be constructed separately to facilitate ease of movement for passengers across the arrival corridor, circulating areas and for handling parcels. Intermodal transport facilities The project aims at harmonious development of the station with the surrounding Chennai cityscape, which includes design for seamless flow for pedestrians between public/private transport, boarding/ alighting points minimizing length of walking distances. In order to provide efficient, convenient and aesthetic solution to connectivity and integration between various modes of transport the circulating areas is designed for easier and convenient intermodal transfer facilities for passenger. WORKS EXECUTED SO FAR Utility survey & Tree survey completed Right of way handed for Multi-level Car Parking on Gandhi-Irwin road side and Poonamallee road side, Parcel office, Arrival FOB, Parcel FOB & Arrival Concourse Topographical survey completed Borehole for geotechnical investigation in progress (11 boreholes completed) Site office construction is in progress Setting up of Batching plant is in progress Drone survey completed Multi-level Car Parking Multi-level Car Parking facilities (G+5 structures) will be constructed on both sides of the station. The total built up area of the Multi-level Car Parking will be 19362 sq.m on the Gandhi-Irwin Road side and 18020 sq.m on the Poonamallee road side of the station. Parking facilities will be provided for various modes of transportation such as cars, taxis, private 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler as well as auto-rickshaws. Separate lanes for drop- offs/ pickups will be provided to enable logical and conflict-free movements. Provision of Multi level car parking will also be given to avoid the congestion in parking space.

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What is India’s oldest railway headquarters

Home to one of India’s oldest railway headquarters, the Southern Railway Headquarters building celebrated its 100th anniversary recently. Join us as we pay homage to this iconic legacy that is second to none A massive heritage structure in present day Chennai, the Southern Railway Headquarters building situated next to Dr MGR Chennai Central celebrated its centenary year on 11th December 2022. It was on 11th December 1922, exactly a hundred years ago, the palatial three storey building was inaugurated by Her Excellency The Lady Willingdon, C.I., D.B.E. the wife of Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, the then Governor of Madras. In commemoration of the centenary celebrations of the vintage building, a group of about sixty heritage and rail enthusiasts led by Shri V. Sriram, a renowned heritage activist based in Chennai, took a heritage walk in and around the majestic edifice today. Shri V.Sriram elaborated on the history of the building which served as the headquarters of Madras & Southern Mahratta Railway (M&SMR) and later became the headquarters of Southern Railway in the year 1951 when the new zone was formed by the merger of erstwhile Madras & Southern Mahratta Railway, Mysore State Railway and South Indian Railway systems. Shri V. Sriram also shared interesting vignettes on the various heritage installations and architecture of the building. The rail and heritage aficionados who participated in the commemorative heritage walk thanked Railways for the unique opportunity to retrace the history of the magnificent structure. DID YOU KNOW? The Iconic heritage structure housing the Southern Railway Headquarters completes its Centenary year on 11th December 2022 A Commemorative Heritage Walk was held to mark the Centenary Foundation stone laid on 8th February 1915 & Inaugurated on 11th December 1922 Indo-Saracenic type of architecture with a blend of Dravidian style Porbundar stones used in construction and were ferried to Chennai by H.H.Wadia & Bros Constructed by T. Samynada Pillai, a Bangalore-based contractor at a cost of Rs.30.76 lakhs, in 1922 Transcending the Ages: The Southern Railway Headquarters Building The majestic building was designed by N. Grayson, an architect and employee of the erstwhile Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway. The Foundation of the palatial headquarters building was laid on 8th February 1915 by Lord Pentland, the then Governor of Madras. Based on the Dravidian style of classic architecture the foundation of the Indo – Saracenic type structure consists of a reinforced concrete raft from 5 to 8 feet below the ground level set upon a stratum of pure sand, nearly 20 feet deep. The building was constructed by T.Samynada Pillai, a Bangalore-based contractor at a cost of Rs.30.76 lakhs. It took nearly 7.5 months to lay the foundation structure consisting of 500 tons of steel bars embedded in 10,000 tons of granite concrete. Built of stock brick with Porbundar stone, the central towers rise to a height of 125 feet 6 inches above the roadway. H.H. Wadia & Bros, pioneers in quarrying Porbundar stones were instrumental in bringing Porbundar stones from Gujarat. The stones were transported for 8 years via sea to Kerala and then by Rail to Madras. H.H. Wadia & Bros camped in Madras from 1913 to 1922 along with their team of skilled masons from Porbundar under the leadership of master mason Pitambar Hira. Each of the four corner domes of this majestic edifice houses water tanks with a total capacity of about 35,000 gallons. After seven long years of intensive labour and a massive investment of Rs.30,76,400, the building was opened on 11th December 1922 by Her Excellency The Lady Willingdon, C.I., D.B.E. the wife of the then Governor of Madras. It may be noted that a commemorative special postal cover was released to mark the launch of the centenary year of Southern Railway headquarters in January 2022. Presently, the three-storey vintage building houses the Southern Railway General Manager’s Office and several other departments. Over 1500 employees work here. Text BY: B. Guganesan, Chief Public Relations Officer