RailEnquiry

CHENNAI: Train passengers bound for Chennai airport from the south of Tamil Nadu may soon be able to alight at the railway station diagonally opposite the aerodrome.Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa has ordered authorities to augment for a stop at Tirusulam Railway Station for express and mail trains, allowing passengers to proceed directly to the city airport. He was addressing the gathering on the occasion of Anti-Terrorism Day at the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial in Sriperumpudur in neighbouring Kanchipuram district on Monday.The Minister’s stress on a stop at Tirusulam is expected to end the hardship of passengers and visitors from southern districts who are forced to break their journey at the crowded Tambaram station to head for the airport.Outbound travellers to different countries from central and southern parts of the State prefer to commute  by train to Chennai, thanks to the convenience and the reasonable fare. Air passengers travelling by long distance trains alight atTambaram and avail other means of transport to the airport, which is about eight kilometres from the Gateway of Chennai (Tambaram).During this transition passengers must wait in serpentine queues at the suburban counters in Tambaram railway station to purchase tickets for electric multiple unit (EMU) trains. For those who want to avoid the difficult queues and opt for a bus, access to Metropolitan Transport Corporation fleets is almost a nightmare given the distance between the railway station and the bus terminus, and the heavy baggage. The other options are to shell out a few hundreds for a call taxi or get fleeced by autorickshaws.

In such a scenario, a stop at Tirusulam will help

passengers of about 20 daily express and mail trains bound for Chennai Egmore and almost five long

distance weekly trains bound for north and east India through Egmore. “Facilities like rest rooms will be built at Tirusulam,” S Anantharaman, Divisional Railway Manager, Chennai Division, Southern Railway said.