“A proud moment for #Chennai and @RailMinIndia ! Iconic Chennai Central station accredited with Green Railway Station Certification by Indian Green Building Council @IGBConline @CIIEvents,” General manager of Southern Railway (SR) RK Kulshrestha posted on Twitter, confirming the certification presented on evaluation of various parameters, mainly energy conservation and generation, water recycling and waste disposal.

Chennai Central, along with New Delhi, Varanasi and a couple of other stations were identified for green certification on a pilot basis in the middle of 2017. SR had made elaborate presentations before a committee of IGBC which also inspected the station on a few instances.

Notably, Chennai Central did not pull off the rating that easily. Authorities of the railway division fitted a whopping 3,500 plus LED lights, designed a solid waste disposal plant, installed solar power generation facilities and fixed transparent roofs to reduce carbon footprint to make the heritage station go green.

Use of recycled water to over 90% for cleaning the station interiors and trains was believed to be another aspect of Chennai Central which had impressed IGBC. 

Reduction in energy consumption up to 40% (non-traction), water consumption up to 30% (station applications), effective waste management during station operation, improved state facility management and increasing environmental awareness among railway staff besides improving accessibility to stations, ventilation and indoor environment quality, enhancing safety of commuters and making the station disabled-friendly are some of the benefits accrued from IGBC Green Railway Stations, a voluntary and consensus based programme developed by CII-IGBC along with the environment directorate of the railway department.