Chennai Central

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Chennai Central Terminal
Zonal Headquarters of Southern Railways
ChennaiCentral2.JPG
The Main Entrance of the Station
Station statistics
Address Station Road, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Lines Chennai-Howrah station Chennai-New Delhi Railway Station
Connections Taxi Stand
Structure Standard on-ground station
Platforms 15
Tracks 15
Parking Available
Baggage check Not Available
Other information
Accessible Handicapped/disabled access
Code MAS
Owned by Ministry of Railways, Indian Railways
Fare zone Southern Railways
Formerly Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway
Location
Chennai Central Station is located in Chennai
Chennai Central Station
Chennai Central Station (Chennai)

Chennai Central, formerly known as Madras Central is the main railway terminus in Chennai. It is the home of the Southern Railway and the most important rail hub in South India. Trains from here connect the city to New Delhi and prominent state capitals of India like Bhopal, Lucknow, Jaipur, Mumbai, Patna, Kolkata, Bangalore etc. Chennai Central is also the main hub for the Chennai Suburban Railway system. The building of the railway station, one of the landmarks of Chennai, was designed by the architect Henry Irwin.

This station is also noted for a whole range of amenities available within the premises. The station has book-shops, restaurants, accommodation, Internet browsing centers and even an essential commodities shopping mall. In 2005, the buildings were painted a creamy yellow colour, but concurring with the views of a campaign by the citizens of Chennai and also to retain the old nostalgic charm, they were repainted in their original brick-red color, which was how the buildings were built originally.

Chennai Central serves as a symbolic landmark for people in South India as this station served as the main gateway for all people who travelled to South India during the British times. Chennai Central has been greatly instrumental in earning Chennai the famous sobriquet Gateway of the South. The entrance to this station and the adjacent suburban railway complex is on the arterial Poonamalee High Road in the city.

Contents

[edit] History

Madras Central was built in 1873 at Parktown as a second terminus to decongest the Royapuram harbour station which was being utilised for port movements. Built in the Gothic Revival style, the original station was designed by George Hardinge and consisted of just four platforms. The station was later modified with the addition of the central clock tower and other changes by Robert Fellowes Chisholm [1]. The redesign was eventually completed in 1900.

Madras Central gained prominence after the beach line was extended further south in 1907 and Royapuram was no longer a terminus for Madras[2]. All trains were then terminated at Madras Central instead and its position was further strengthened after the construction of the headquarters of the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway (erstwhile Madras Railway and now known as the Southern Railway (India)) adjacent to it in 1922.

Due to increasing passenger movement, the main building was extended with the addition of a new building on the western side with a similar architecture to the original.

Capacity at the station was further augmented after construction of the multistoreyed Moore Market Complex as a dedicated terminus for the Chennai suburban railway system.

[edit] Southern Railway

Chennai is the headquarters of the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways.

[edit] Layout

Chennai Central
MAS
Chennai Central.jpg
Chennai Central at night
Coordinates 13.09°N 80.27°E
Division / Zone Chennai  · Southern Railways
District / State Chennai  · Tamil Nadu
Platform(s) 15
Elevation MSL + 20 ft
Date Opened 1853[3]
Date Electrified 1931 [4]

This station has 11 platforms to handle long distance trains and 3 platforms exclusively for suburban trains. The complex for suburban trains is popularly known as the Moore Market complex. There is a platform 2A between platforms 2 and 3; it is used to handle relatively short trains like the Rajadhani Express, Vijayawada Jan Shatabdi Express, Bangalore/Mysore Shatabdi Expresses and the Gudur Passenger.

Chennai Central used to have trains with special liveries until early 90's. The Brindavan Exp. used to have green livery with a yellow stripe running above and below the windows; Nilgiri Exp. (popularly known as Blue Mountain) had blue livery. All trains now have the standard blue livery (denoting Air-Braked bogies). Notable exceptions include the Rajadhani, Shatabdi and the Jan Shatabdi Express. The Saptagiri/Tirupati Expresses has a vivid green / cream livery combination with a matching WAM4 6PE loco from Arakkonam (AJJ) electric loco shed.

The building to the west of the railway station is the Ripon building, which houses the Chennai Corporation. To the east of the station lies the Southern Railway Headquarters.

[edit] Trains

Some of the trains from/to Chennai Central

[edit] Trains originating at Chennai Central

[edit] Trains passing through Chennai Central

  • Indore - Coimbatore -Trivandrum Ahilyanagari Express
  • Gorakhpur-Coimbatore-Trivandrum/Barauni-Coimbatore-Ernakulam Raptisagar Express
  • Trivandrum - Coimbatore - Howrah Express
  • Coimbatore - Jaipur Express
  • Ernakulam - Coimbatore - Guwahati Express
  • Trivandrum - Coimbatore Guwahati Express
  • Bangalore - Guwahati Express
  • Bangalore - Rajendra Nagar(Patna) Sangamithra Express
  • Muzaffarpur - Yeswantpur Express
  • Ernakulam - Coimbatore - Patna Express
  • Trivandrum - Coimbatore - Howrah(Shalimar) Express
  • Dhanbad - Coimbatore - Alappuzha Express
  • Bangalore-Darbhanga Bagmati Express

[edit] Gallery

The Suburban terminus and reservation centre called the Moore Market

Inside the main station

Side view of station extension that was added a few years back

Panorama of Chennai Central

The Main Entrance of The Station

[edit] References

  1. ^ Madras - The Architectural Heritage, ISBN 81-901640-0-7, p53
  2. ^ http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/02/26/stories/2003022600240300.htm
  3. ^ http://irfca.org/faq/faq-hist.html
  4. ^ http://irfca.org/faq/faq-elec.html#vol

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 13°04′56″N 80°16′31″E / 13.08222°N 80.27528°E / 13.08222; 80.27528

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