Accessibility plan for the railway station in Suburban areas: a case of Chennai metropolitan area

Abstract

The suburban stations are experiencing congestion issues in the peak hours for daily commuters due to traffic congestions outside the station area. By 2030, the employment is expected to increase to 70% net new employment which creates more pressure on suburban areas as per a McKinsey report on Urbanisation. In this scenario the suburban railway in the metropolitan areas will play a crucial area to satisfy the expected new employment. In order to justify the case I have chosen Chennai Suburban Railway network as the case study area. There are three routes in Chennai Suburban Railway network. Out of which Tambaram Railway Station and Avadi Railway Station are the busiest in the whole network with highest footfall of suburban commuters. The Tambaram Railway station is on the southern line towards Kanchipuram and Avadi Railway station is on the western line towards Ambattur. The Tambaram is a Municipality and Avadi is a Municipal Corporation making them one of the major suburbs in Chennai Metropolitan Area. The commuter survey is conducted in both the suburban railway stations emphasizing majorly on the travel characteristics of the commuters such as origindestination, cost, time and distance. The speed and delay survey is one of the crucial exercises to demarcate the active congestion zones and intervention zones. The critical nodes and congestion factors are analysed based on the Traffic Volume obtained from the primary survey. The accessibility parameters are then applied to the case and assessed to understand the issues faced in the intervention area. Then the delay is calculated by the using a technique Travel Time Index and the modes are selected on the basis of maximum delays observed by each mode reaching the station area. The active congestion zones and influence zones are then analysed and compared in both the cases and the location specific accessibility infrastructure is recommended to ease the congestion in the area. The infrastructure recommended in the intervention zone will emphasize to smoothen the vehicular movement to and fro from the railway station. The critical nodes, the bus stops are made more accessible friendly for the movement of commuters to suburban railway stations.