Basin Bridge Junction is a station on the

Chennai Suburban Railway The Chennai Suburban Railway is a commuter rail system in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, operated by the Southern Railways branch of Indian Railways. It is the second largest suburban rail network in terms of route length and the third ...

and serves the locality of Basin Bridge, the confluence on the Otteri Nullah and Buckingham Canal, in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

, India. The station is located at the southern end of the 'diamond' junction in Chennai, where all the lines of the Chennai Suburban Railway meet. It is the first station after

Chennai Central Chennai Central (station code: MAS, short for ''Madras''), officially known as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, is the main railway terminus in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the busiest railwa ...

. At this station, the line divides into three: one going towards

Avadi Avadi () is a suburb of Chennai within Chennai Metropolitan Area limit, located in the Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is a municipal corporation west of Chennai, about from Chennai Central Railway Station. It is surrounded by ma ...

and

Arakkonam Arakkonam () is a railway town and suburb of Chennai within Chennai Metropolitan Area limit, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with a population of 78,395 per the census 2011. It is in the newly created Ranipet district, about from Ranipet h ...

, the other towards

Ennore Ennore, also spelt , is a neighbourhood in Chennai, India. Ennore is situated on a peninsula and is bounded by the Korttalaiyar River, Ennore Creek and the Bay of Bengal. The creek separates south Ennore from the north Ennore which covers majo ...

and

Gummidipoondi Gummidipoondi is an industrial town in Chennai Metropolitan Region of Thiruvallur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Notably, it is the northernmost assembly constituency and settlement in the state of Tamil Nadu. Demographics Ind ...

, and the third towards Chennai Beach and Chennai Egmore. Thus, the station acts as the entry point to Chennai Central terminus where inbound trains from all the three lines are stopped before assigning a platform at Chennai Central. It also contains a railway maintenance shed with 19 pit-lines, each measuring 3-ft deep to accommodate about 24 coaches. The station has an elevation of 7 m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

. GMR Vasavi Diesel Power Plant, which has now been dismantled, was situated on the side of Basin bridge opposite to the railway station. Diesel pipes are laid from Chennai Port to Basin Bridge for fuel power of the plant. The Madras Boating Club operates rowing events in this neighbourhood.

History

The lines at the station were electrified in 1979. On 13 April 1979, the Chennai Central–Gummidipoondi section was electrified and on 9 August 1979, the Basin Bridge–Chennai Beach section was electrified. On 29 November 1979, the lines on Chennai Central–Tiruvallur were electrified. The stabling and inspection lines at the station were electrified on 24 December 1979. The additional line between Basin Bridge and Vyasarpadi was electrified on 31 December 1985.

Traffic

As of 2013, the station handles about 10,000 passengers a day.

Connectivity

Road transport

The station is connected by roads to and from the following areas: * Vallalar Nagar (also known as Mint), Washermenpet, Tiruvottiyur * Stanley Government Hospital, Royapuram, Mannadi * Mint Street, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital * Wall Tax Road, Park Town, Sowcarpet, George Town * Vyasarpadi (Vyaasarpaadi), MKB Nagar, KKD Nagar * Pulianthope, Otteri, Ayanavaram * Jamalia, Perambur *

Choolai Choolai is a developed residential area in Central Chennai, a metropolitan city in Tamil Nadu. Location Choolai is located near Chennai Central, 1 km from chennai central railway station Choolai has got its name because of the Brick kilns ...

, Vepery, Doveton, Purasawalkam * Periamet, Chennai Central railway station * Korukkupet, Tondiarpet *

Elephant Gate Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

Security

The station is covered by the 400-million Integrated Security Surveillance System (ISSS) project implemented in 2012. The project, implemented jointly by the Southern Railways and HCL Infosystems, includes installation of CCTV cameras that would record visuals around the clock and store the data for 30 days, with the footage transmitted and stored using an Internet Protocol system.

References