CHENNAI: The Southern Railway has put in place an LED lighting system at Chennai Central station, which would help in bringing down the station’s energy requirement and its monthly expenditure.
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday inaugurated several projects in the Chennai division, including the LEDs (light-emitting diodes) at Central, through video-conferencing.
According to officials, a total of 2,388 conventional lights have been replaced with energy-efficient lights. “This LED lighting set up at a cost of Rs 50 lakh, will result in savings to the tune of 60 lakh units of power and Rs 60 lakh per month,” an official said. In addition, an existing pay-and-use toilet at the station has been renovated at a cost of Rs 60 lakh.
At the function in Central held to mark the inauguration, Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan, Additional General Manager of Southern Railway P K Mishra and other officials were present.
Other new facilities include a foot overbridge costing `1.44 lakh at Tiruvottiyur station, reservation-cum-booking office on the western side of the Guindy railway station facing GST Road. “The office being equipped with seven ticket counters, both local suburban and outstation tickets can be booked here,” the official said.
Also, the old defective escalators at the Chepauk station, for accessing platforms 1 and 2 have been replaced.
In keeping with the mission to provide internet facility at major stations to passengers, high-speed Wi-Fi services are now available at the Chengalpattu and Katpadi stations, with the latter also getting a passenger information centre and CCTV cameras for enhanced surveillance.
“Following the Central, Egmore and Tambaram stations, Arakkonam has now got a food plaza for the benefit of thousands of passengers who use the station daily,” the official said.