Two new foot overbridges at Guindy railway and CMRL stations

Chennai: With CMRL Guindy station nearing completion, CMRL and Southern Railway officials are focusing on public connectivity for EMU suburban and metro stations for which two foot overbridges (FOBs) will be coming up soon.

After a joint inspection on April 20, an 8-metre wide foot overbridge by CMRL was approved and work has been sanctioned. This bridge will connect the first floor of the CMRL station to the Race Course Road (RCR) via Guindy station, according to Southern Railway officials.

This FOB, which will connect the metro station and Guindy EMU station, will be maintained by CMRL. “Apart from an FOB by CMRL, railways will also be constructing an overbridge connecting Grand Southern Trunk  (GST) Road to RCR. The one, which is being used by people, is quite narrow. The width of the foot overbridge to be constructed by railways has not been decided yet but both the FOBs will be over 100 feet long,” said a senior railways official.

Once the new bridge comes up, the current one will be replaced. “New foot overbridges will help commuters of metro rail and EMUs, and also help pedestrians who frequent Guindy for transportation. Guindy being a hub will be benefited by this,” said Satish Kumar K, a rail commuter.

Both the foot overbridges will have escalators at one end, and stairs at the
other end, for better convenience and connectivity for pedestrians and passengers.

Currently Express trains do not halt at Guindy station, according to railway officials. In future, Express trains may see stoppages at Guindy. These infrastructure changes are being planned considering that. Among other changes, toilets at Guindy station, will be restored and plans are to provide round-the-clock manning of toilets on suburban line stations.