Tambaram railway station is set to receive nine additional lifts and 10 escalators by November and December, as Southern Railway works to improve vertical access at the Chennai terminal amid rising passenger traffic and incomplete surrounding circulation infrastructure.
Of the nine lifts being installed, seven have been completed, although they are not all ready for passenger use. Two lifts at the western entry have received the required licence certificates, but their approach pathways are still being constructed. Five other lifts are awaiting statutory inspection and licensing. These include one each serving Platforms 1 and 2, Platforms 3 and 4, and Platforms 9 and 10, along with two lifts at the eastern entry.
Southern Railway expects the lifts awaiting inspection and licensing to be opened shortly, according to the report. Installation of the remaining two lifts, which will connect Platforms 5 and 6 and Platforms 7 and 8, is under way and is targeted for completion by the end of November.
Work is also progressing on 10 escalators planned for the station’s new foot overbridge. Once all the new facilities are commissioned, Tambaram station will have 10 lifts and 16 escalators, including existing installations.
The additions are being undertaken as Tambaram handles a growing number of passengers. The station has overtaken Chennai Central in originating passenger numbers among Chennai’s three major railway terminals, according to the report. That shift has increased the importance of ensuring that passengers can move between platforms, station entrances and the foot overbridge without relying only on stairs.
The status of the lifts also highlights the difference between installation and operational readiness in public infrastructure. While seven of the nine new lifts have been completed, passenger access depends on statutory inspections, licensing and the completion of approach pathways. Until those linked works are finished, installed equipment cannot provide its full intended benefit.
The new foot overbridge and its access infrastructure are being developed while the station awaits broader redevelopment under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme. Apart from piecemeal development, the larger redevelopment has not yet begun, according to the report. Concerns have also emerged over passenger circulation around the new bridge, including incomplete circulating areas and inadequate connections from the street.
For passengers, the commissioning schedule will therefore depend not only on the lifts and escalators themselves but also on whether the approach routes and surrounding access areas are completed. The western-entry lifts, for example, have obtained licence certificates but remain linked to unfinished approach pathways.
Southern Railway has set November as the target for commissioning the two lifts connecting Platforms 5 and 6 and Platforms 7 and 8. The remaining lifts and escalators are expected to be commissioned across November and December, subject to statutory inspections, licensing and completion of associated access works.
