The Velachery MRTS Station is a ground level station on the

Chennai MRTS The Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System, a state-owned subsidiary of Indian Railways, is a metropolitan elevated railway line in Chennai, India. Operated by the Southern Railways, it is the first elevated railway line in India and also the coun ...

railway line in Chennai. It is located near the junction of Velachery Main Road and Inner Ring Road in

Velachery Velachery (''pronounced as'' veh·luh·cheh·ree) is a commercial and residential area in south Chennai, and is the largest commercial centre in south Chennai. It is surrounded by Guindy in the north, IIT Madras in the north-east, Taramani in ...

. The station is built on the northern banks of

Pallikaranai wetland Pallikaranai wetland is a freshwater marsh in the city of Chennai, India. It is situated adjacent to the Bay of Bengal, about south of the city centre, and has a geographical area of . Pallikaranai marshland is the only surviving wetland ecos ...

History

The station was opened on 19 November 2007. The EMU maintenance shed at the station was opened in 2008.

Structure

The length of the platform is 280 m. The station premises also consists of 12,250 sq m of open parking area.

EMU shed

The station has a massive shed for preventive maintenance of electrical multiple unit (EMU) rakes, which is spread over 44 hectares. Before the opening of the shed in 2008, maintenance of the all MRTS rakes were being sent to . However, the shed has been lying in disuse for the past few years. Due to this, there are currently no mid-night services between Chennai Beach station and Velachery.

Additional infrastructure

A bus bay in front of the station, set to become the biggest in south Chennai, is under construction at a cost of 100 million, jointly executed by the Southern Railway and the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

. To be built in about 60,000 sq m of land, the depot will be owned by the state government. A 3.4 km-long, 18 m-wide access road to Perungudi station and Taramani station is being constructed along the MRTS line from Velachery to Taramani.

Patronage

The station primarily serves the residential community of Velachery and its neighbouring suburbs such as Madipakkam, Ullagaram-Puzhuthivakkam,

Adambakkam Adambakkam is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. It is primarily a residential locality situated in South Chennai . Adambakkam area comes under Velachery taluk and Alandur taluk, Chennai District of Chennai Corporation. Adambakkam is surrounded ...

and

Pallikaranai Pallikaranai is a neighborhood and a residential area in south Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Located in proximity to the IT industry in Old Mahabalipuram Road, Chennai's central business districts and the automobile hub in GST road has attracted m ...

. The Velachery station receives the highest patronage among all the MRTS stations.

Developments

In September 2013, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) invited tenders for setting up a food plaza in the station, along with two other stations, namely, and .

References

{{Chennai MRTS Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System stations Railway stations in Chennai Railway stations opened in 2007 ta:வேளச்சேரி