With a robust growth in electric vehicles (EVs) of cars and bikes, Southern Railway has decided to upgrade existing EV charging facilities and install new ones at several railway stations in the city. This is the second time Southern Railway is attempting this, with the first attempt falling flat despite the service being free.

A senior official of Southern Railway’s Chennai division said the growth in EVs had prompted them to once again look at creating EV charging facilities as space was not a constraint at railway stations, and most commuters used private vehicles to reach them. As part of the initiative, railway officials have proposed to commission charging facilities in 28 railway stations, among these work has already commenced at Light House, Thirumayilai, Velachery, and Kotturpuram. Installation of the EV charging units is under way and are planned to be commissioned by June.

Of the 28 railway stations, eight are in the Chennai Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu section and seven in the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), operated between Velachery and Chennai Beach. Some of the key stations that will soon boast an EV charging facility include Moore Market Complex (MMC), Chengalpattu, Tirusulam, Taramani, Beach, Avadi, and Guindy.

M. Premkumar of Kotturpuram said the EV charging facility at the Kotturpuram MRTS station would be better if a parking contractor was assigned to monitor the vehicles, as this would help ensure their safety.

The railway officials, having taken a holistic approach to support commuters using EVs, are also in the process of setting up battery swapping counters. Battery swapping will allow EV users who are short on time to charge their vehicles to instead rent a spare battery to use in the interim. Commuters can retrieve their own batteries when they return to the station. The Southern Railway has awarded contracts for the installation of battery swapping counters at 11 railway stations. Work to identify contractors is in progress and will commence in the first week of June.

The twin facilities of battery charging and swapping would be available at Thiruvanmiyur, Egmore, Velachery, and MMC railway stations. The official said bids had been called for e-auctions for another three locations for installation of battery swapping units and identification of areas for setting up more units was under way.

S. Kumaresan, who owns an electric two-wheeler, said battery swapping technology needed a clean environment, so the counters had to be installed inside railway stations.