Southern Railway eliminated 11 manual level crossings in the city and completed works to eliminate 12 others in the outskirts during the financial year 2025-26.

To prevent unauthorised crossing of tracks and improve operational efficiency of trains, Southern Railway replaced the level crossings with subways, road overbridges (ROBs), and road under bridges (RUBs).

A senior official with the Chennai Division of Southern Railway said 11 of them had been converted into safe zones through the construction of seven subways, three ROBs, and one RUB, at a cost of over ₹100 crore.

The Radha Nagar subway at the Chromepet railway station led to the closure of level crossing no. 27, easing traffic flow from Radha Nagar to GST Road.

Subways have been constructed at Wallajah Road, Latteri, and Jolarpettai, along with ROBs at Sitheri and Othivakkam yard.

Commuters’ demands

Meanwhile, the commuters are demanding the construction of a subway and an RUB at Pattabhiram and Avadi railway stations.

Gopalakrishnan, a resident of Pattabhiram, pointed out the need for a subway at Pattabhiram railway station, as commuters faced difficulties in accessing the ROB that was built to replace level crossing no. 10. They had to climb more than 50 steps to safely cross from South Bazaar to CTH Road, he said. 

Social activist T. Sadagopan also wanted an RUB to be constructed to replace the level crossing no. 8 near Avadi railway station. He saidan RUB would ease access to the Nehru Bazaar located to the south of the railway station and Avadi bus terminus to the north.