Central station to turn centre of attraction

Chennai: Work is on to give a facelift to the heritage Chennai Central railway station. No longer is the dingy sidewalls of the station pan-stained. A fresh lining of red and yellow painted aluminum sheets has been put up to increase the aesthetic quotient of the station. Very soon, neon lamp-lit giant advertisement boards will decorate the station walls, not just illuminating the station better but also fetching a few extra bucks to the railways.

Not long ago, railway officials pulled down six eateries in the old concourse area, probably making way for two escalators proposed to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 2.4 crore to ease passenger movement in the station that easily records a footfall of well over 1.2 lakh daily. The ‘Jan Ahar’ (railway eatery) opposite the food court is already going through a make-over. It was only a few months ago that the Jan Ahar outlet at Chennai Central, the only such facility available in the entire division, started making some profit.

Senior railway officials put the daily business volume at Rs 1.05 lakh.Railway officials Deccan Chronicle interacted with exuded confidence and said that Central terminal will be other station’s envy once the renovation gets over, hopefully in a month.“Due to the high passenger inflow into Central station, we have been working to streamline the passenger as well as vehicle movement on a daily basis for a long time so as to decongest the station premises and this move will be a step forward towards this mission,” said a senior office at the Chennai divisional office.