New traffic arrangements at junction

The Tiruchi Railway Junction has always been a busy station due to its strategic location. The heavy vehicular traffic on the station premises, which includes buses, VIP, and escort vehicles, private cars and taxis, leads to severe congestion at both the entrances to the main junction building.

This despite the fact that the junction, one of the oldest in Southern Railways, has a spacious and well laid out circulating area near its main entrance.

The traffic condition becomes even more chaotic during mornings and evenings when a large number of long-distance trains arrive and depart from the junction.

To address the problem and to ensure free movement of commutes, the railway division recently opened an additional entrance from the Bharathidasan Salai. All the city buses which touched the junction were allowed through this new entrance and this reduced the congestion in front of the main building to a great extent.

To further ease the problem, the railway division has come out with new traffic arrangements which will be in force for vehicles entering Tiruchi Junction with effect from August 6 on a trial basis.

As per the new arrangement, there will be two lanes for four-wheelers entering the station area.

The first lane, adjacent to the portico of the VIP entrance, will be for dignitaries and other government vehicles. All other vehicles will be allowed on the second lane for pickup and drop only. Vehicle parking will not be allowed on this lane, according to railway sources.

This is mainly to ease congestion and ensure hassle-free movement of passengers, and for security reasons. Four-wheeler parking lot, currently located in front of the main building, will be shifted to the road that was till now used by city buses. The road has now become free due to the diversion of buses through the additional entrance. Restriction on parking of vehicles opposite the main building is expected to create parking space crunch for four-wheelers. “Understanding this, the Tiruchi division had already submitted a proposal to the Southern Railways for a permanent and spacious parking lot at the additional entrance. Once this proposal is implemented, there would be no room for complaints on the lack of space for the parking of private vehicles,” the sources said.