Now charge your EVs at Railway Stations: Southern Railways starts project 

Southern Railway has decided to install new EV charging points at several city train stations while modifying the current ones to cater to the significant increase in EV adoption. The update marks the 2nd effort by the Southern Railway, following its effort to provide the same service in free of cost. 

Since space was not a concern at railway stations, since the majority of commuters used private automobiles to get there, a senior official of Southern Railway's Chennai division stated that the rise in EVs had led them to reconsider the creation of EV charging facilities. Railway officials have suggested setting up charging stations in 28 stations as part of the project; construction has already started at Light House, Thirumayilai, Velachery, and Kotturpuram. The installation of stations is currently going on and is likely to be completed by June.

The Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), which runs between Velachery and Chennai Beach, has seven of the 28 railway stations, while the Chennai Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu portion has eight. Several important stations, including Moore Market Complex (MMC), Chengalpattu, Tirusulam, Taramani, Beach, Avadi, and Guindy, will soon have EV charging stations.

M. Premkumar from Kotturpuram stated that in order to improve the safety of the EV charging station at the Kotturpuram MRTS station, a parking contractor should be tasked with keeping an eye on the cars.

Battery swapping

As part of their comprehensive strategy to assist commuters who use electric vehicles, railway officials are also included in the process of installing battery switching stations. By using battery swapping, EV owners who don't have enough time to charge their vehicles can borrow an extra battery to use in the meantime. When commuters get back to the station, they can get their own batteries. Contracts for the installation of battery switching counters at eleven train stations have been awarded by the Southern Railway. The process of finding contractors is underway and is scheduled to start the first week of June.

The railway stations in Thiruvanmiyur, Egmore, Velachery, and MMC will have the dual amenities of battery charging and exchanging. The official stated that spots for the installation of further battery swapping units were being identified, and bids had been requested for e-auctions for three additional locations.