CHENNAI: After years of remaining in limbo for want of land, the long-pending demand of developing Royapuram railway station as a terminal has finally been dropped.
Instead, Southern Railway has proposed to convert Tondairpet station as the fourth terminal in the city to reduce congestion at Chennai Central and Egmore.
Speaking at an event on Friday, Southern Railway General Manager Vashishtha Johri said the plan to develop Royapuram, a heritage station, has been dropped because of various reasons, including non-availability of land for the project.
“There are various hindrances because of which Royapuram station cannot be converted as a terminal,” Johri said while speaking at the Ashraya school for the differently-abled run by Southern Railway Women’s Organisation.
In 2014, the then Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda had announced in Parliament that Royapuram would be converted as a terminal. A feasibility study was also conducted and railway officials said they needed lots of land, some of which belonged to Stanley Medical College and Hospital. At various points of time, it was made known by railway officials that the project could be carried out only if land was provided.
Southern Railway sources say Tondiarpet can be developed as there was no issue of land availability. Meanwhile, work on the third railway terminal project at Tambaram is almost complete, Johri said.