Chennai's historic Park railway station gets ₹14 crore facelift, PM Modi inaugurates

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the redeveloped Park railway station in Chennai through video conferencing from Jalandhar Cantonment railway station in Punjab. The station, built in 1931, is one of 75 railway stations across the country being upgraded under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (ABSS).

Located opposite Dr. MGR Chennai Central station, Park station serves as a key link to the Moore Market Complex (MMC) suburban railway station and the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). It lies on the Beach-Tambaram and Chengalpattu corridor under the Chennai division of Southern Railway.

The redevelopment, costing ₹14 crore, includes a new ticket booking office, spacious waiting area, enhanced platform shelters, and digital passenger information systems. A towering entrance structure, coach guidance displays, and passenger lifts connecting all four platforms have been added to modernise the station.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar participated in the inauguration ceremony held at the station. Vipin Kumar, Additional General Manager of Southern Railway, stated that under ABSS, 75 stations in Tamil Nadu are being redeveloped at a cost of around ₹3,300 crore. He noted that the state's share of revenue for the current fiscal year is ₹7,611 crore, nearly nine times the average annual allocation between 2009 and 2014.

Among other stations inaugurated on Friday were Chinnasalem and Coonoor in Salem division; Tirur, Thalassery, Parapanangadi, and Nilambur in Palakkad division; and Chalakudi and Angamalli in Thiruvananthapuram division.

A total of 15 railway stations in Chennai division are undergoing redevelopment under ABSS. St. Thomas Mount and Sullurpeta were inaugurated last year. The remaining 12 stations — Beach, Perambur, Tiruvallur, Arakkonam, Chengalpattu, Guindy, Ambattur, Mambalam, Guduvanchery, Thiruttani, Jolarpettai, and Gummidipoondi — are under various stages of redevelopment.