Gateway of South India: Chennai Central Railway Station

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

- Lao Tzu

The Chennai Central

A Red massive British structure, another landmark of the Chennai mero: "Chennai Central", formerly known as "Madras Central", is an important railway terminus in Chennai and Southern India. Central Train station has been the gateway connecting the Tamil Nadu State with the rest of the India. Most of the broad gauge trains bound for north and west orginate here.

While Chennai Egmore Railway Station connect with cities and towns to the south of Chennai such as Madurai, Rameshwaram, Tirunelveli, Tiruchirapalli and Tuticorin, Chennai Central connect Chennai to other states of India.

ARCHITECTURE:

Chennai Central (also known as Madras Central) was built in 1873 at Park town as a second terminus to decongest the erstwhile Royapuram harbour station which was being utilized for port movements, which was designed by architect Henry Irwin.



A traveller: Suneel Gudipati

Chennai Central (Madras Central) was built in the Gothic Revival style, 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 Fellows Chisholm. 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. 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 Maratha 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.. The station has 11 platforms to handle long distance trains and 3 platforms, exclusively for suburban trains now a days. 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.

The station now has book-shops, restaurants, accommodation, Touch Screen Information System, Internet browsing centers and even a shopping mall for essential commodities.