A couple of days ago, i mentioned here that im opposed to the proposal by Railway Ministry (but this proposal was opposed by the Railway men themselves!!!!) to upgrade Royapuram Railway station as the 3rd Passenger Terminal in Chennai (The existing terminals are Chennai Central & Chennai Egmore....both of which are over-saturated!!!) In India, especially Tamil people get carried away by the emotional appeal.....they never analyze the pros & cons of a thing/proposal etc.... Now the reason for my opposition is as follows:- 1) Royapuram lacks the space to build the terminal, as per the records available it has around 30 acres of space & another 30 acres has been leased to private parties for freight/logistics(i.e Warehouse etc) 2) Royapuram is sandwiched and land-locked on 3 sides and on the other side is occupied by Chennai Port (as an extension of it, cramped by Sea) 3) If railways opts for Royapuram then they may need to acquire land from the local Government and also from the private parties and it cant touch the Port side, as the Chennai Port itself is severely cramped for space 4) Even if for argument sake that the lease is cancelled and all the 60-70 acres are used for building a terminal, then it may not accommodate more than 10 Platforms i.e 5 Platform x 2, (assuming that maintenance yard is located either at Beach Station or at Tondiarpet or some other far-off place) 5) However maintenance yard at Beach Station is completely ruled as there is no space in Beach Railway Station.....One has to understand that Beach Railway station is used as a Suburban Railway Hub catering exclusively to Chennai Beach - Tambaram Section (also to Chengalpattu & Tirumalpur Sections) and Chennai Beach - Velacherry MRTS Section (that may be extended as Beach to St.Thomas Mount once the extension from Velacherry to Mount is completed). It also caters to suburban trains operated to Gummidipoondi, Avadi, Tiruvallur, Arakkonam & Tirutani Segments 6) Also container freight operations are undertaken for movement by Rail Rakes. This operation is carried at the farther end of Beach Station. Anyone who has seen the Beach Railway station will get themselves clarified that there is no space for any expansion as the Station is already saturated. 7) Even if assuming that the maintenance yards (Stabling Yards, Pit Lanes etc) are constructed at Beach Railway station, then that will be at the cost of Suburban Rail Network, which already is under severe stress. suburban railway commuters are already alleging that the services has gone from bad to worse with no punctuality & late running of trains 8) So Beach Station is ruled out for maintenance yard purpose, the same is the case for Tondiarpet too...Trains moving to North & Western regions of India move through the Tondiarpet and hence putting a Maintenance yard will hamper the smooth movement of these trains. 9) Since all other options are unviable/not practical, then the other option is too either put the maintenance yard at Royapuram itself, which will then mean reducing the number of platforms. In that case only a maximum of 4 platforms (2x2) can be built with the space given to maintenance yard. Also additionally they have to accommodate suburban trains. In that case they may not be able to run more than 10 to 12 trains from Royapuram, which will defeat the very purpose of building a new terminal meant to de-congest the existing Train terminals!!!! 10) Future expansion is also not at all possible as there is no space, as mentioned earlier. So building a terminal at Royapuram is at the best only a stop-gap arrangement and after a period of 20 years, (more population, more trains, more facilities required for operations etc), Railway has to go for building a terminal somewhere in Chennai!!! 11) Also operating South bound trains from Royapuram is simply out-of-question!!! There are only 3 tracks available from Beach Station to Chennai Egmore. Out-of-those, 2 are exclusive for Suburban trains. The remaining 1 track is partly used for express/long-distance trains and partly for suburban trains. Whenever the express trains is run, then the suburban trains are halted Chetput or at Beach Station itself!!! Those who commute by Semi-fast / Fast trains between Chengalpattu/Tirumalpur/Arokkonam-Villupuram segment will know how late the services are run!!!! 12) And last but not the least, Royapuram is famous for Rowdyism!!!! I hope that common-sense and better-sense will prevail in the Railway Ministry and they drop this plan altogether. The problem here is that in India any 10 Idiots can get together and start a movement and thereby stall (or change anything from good to bad) any good things!!! The same is happening in this case too where a pro-Royapuram gang is pressurizing the Railways to opt for Royapuram. But the fact is Royapuram is unviable/untenable proposal from all points viz, technical, practical, operational, financial except emotional appeal. But any decision regarding the public utilities should be rational rather than emotional. I feel Tambaram is the most suited for building a 3rd Terminal in Chennai as it has vast stretch of land. My estimate is that it must have around 200-250 acres of land. Also the station has already 8 platforms (4x2) and also some tracks where at present is used freighter operations (Cement rake / Two-wheeler rake un-loading etc)......it can easily accomodate another 4 platform (2x2). Also on the Eastern side there is lot of space (currently it has Railway Quarters / Community Hall / a Big Railway Ground etc) All those can be demolished to make way for a big Maintenance Yard. Also on the Western side abutting GST Road (starting from Sanatorium Railway Station), there is lot of space (where Railway Staff Quarters & EMU maintenance shed are located. So all said and done, i think Tambaram is the best & most suited for the 3rd Rail Terminal. Its justified on the technical, practical, financial and also based on future need for expansion!!!! You cant kill 1000 people to satisfy the needs for 10 people!!! Unfortunately that may happen if Royapuram is opted!!!
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 06:55:12 +0000
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