Anna Nagar railway station

Anna Nagar
அண்ணா நகர்
Station of Chennai Suburban Railway and Southern Railways
Location Anna Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates 13°5′54″N 80°12′0″E / 13.09833°N 80.20000°E / 13.09833; 80.20000Coordinates: 13°5′54″N 80°12′0″E / 13.09833°N 80.20000°E / 13.09833; 80.20000
Owned by Ministry of Railways, Indian Railways
Line(s) West line of Chennai Suburban Railway
Platforms 1
Tracks 1
Construction
Structure type Standard on-ground station
Other information
Fare zone Southern Railways
History
Opened 2003
Closed 2007
Previous names South Indian Railway

Anna Nagar railway station is one of the two, now defunct, railway stations of the extended southern arm of the Chennai Central–Arakkonam section of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network, the other being Padi railway station. It served the neighbourhood of Anna Nagar, a suburb of Chennai. The station is located on Thirumangalam road, a road that connects Anna Nagar West with Villivakkam, near New Avadi Road, away from the commercial centre of the neighbourhood.

History

In 2003, a 3.09 km-long railway line, initially used by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at Perambur for moving newly built coaches from shell to furnishing division of the factory, was strengthened at a cost of 72.9 million for operating passenger services. Two new stations, namely, Padi and Anna Nagar, were built and 13 existing bridges were renovated and the work was completed in five months. The railway station and the EMU services were inaugurated by the then Union Minister of State for Railways, A. K. Moorthy.[1] Between 2003 and 2007, five suburban trains were being run from Anna Nagar to Chennai Beach via Villivakkam. In 2007, the service was discontinued due to construction of a rotary at the Padi junction replacing the level-crossing. Though the rotary was completed in 2009, services were not restored. However, in 2011, the railways planned to resume services in this section as a feeder service with six-car EMUs.[2]

Patronage

The service, however, had a low patronage. The average daily counter collection at the station is about 450, with just about 50 passengers. The monthly revenue never exceeded 15,000 so far.[3]

However, unlike the rest of the Chennai Suburban Railway network, there is only one line in this section. In addition, the traffic congestion resulting due to closure of a gate near the Padi railway station limits the operation to five pairs of EMU services between Chennai Beach and Anna Nagar.[1]

In a response to a public interest litigation filed in June 2013, the Railways announced that "the decision to discontinue operations at Anna Nagar station was made due to financial considerations. The per-day expense for operating train services between Villivakkam and Anna Nagar costs about 30,000, while the income was only a few hundreds."[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Vydhianathan, S. (3 October 2003). "Anna Nagar put on rail map". The Hindu (Chennai: The Hindu). Retrieved 24 Dec 2012.
  2. Ayyappan, V. (18 February 2011). "Train service from Anna Nagar to resume". The Times of India (Chennai: The Times Group). Retrieved 24 Dec 2012.
  3. Lakshmi, K. (25 September 2006). "Launched with fanfare, but languishing today". The Hindu (Chennai: The Hindu). Retrieved 24 Dec 2012.
  4. "No services at Anna Nagar railway station due to poor patronage, HC told". The Times of India (Chennai: The Times Group). TNN. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
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