This was in a time when the city was expanding, with largely agricultural areas such as Saidapet, St. Thomas Mount and Tambaram developing into residential quarters.

The trains were painted in dull green with a black wheel base and featured wide sliding doors, a better-designed seating arrangement, and thick glass fronts.

[4][5] The Madras Electricity Supply Corporation, which powered the railway lines, was aided by sub-stations in Egmore and Meenambakkam.

[3] The cabin was closed and demolished in August 2002 during remodelling of the station layout in view with the gauge conversion of the lines.

[6] Built on a reclaimed land, the terminus lies on the far-eastern tip of the city, abutting the harbour coast.

A project to extend one of the footbridges in the station over the Rajaji Salai on the western side was mooted in 2009–2010 at a cost of ₹5.2 million, and the foundation stone was laid in February 2011.

The extension will be 33 metres long crossing the Rajaji Salai to reach the State Bank of India's new building complex.

[10] In 2013, Chennai Corporation planned larger bus bays outside the station on Rajaji Salai after evicting about 41 shops along the pavement.

[11] Ten years later, in 2023, a 4.3-km-long 4th line between Chennai Beach and Egmore (doubling work) has been started; it is slated to be completed in 7 months.

The project, implemented jointly by the Southern Railways and HCL Infosystems, includes installation of CCTV cameras that would record visuals around the clock and store the data for 30 days.

A total of 16 CCTV cameras have been installed at the station at a cost of ₹4.557 million, and footage will be transmitted and stored using an Internet Protocol system.

The control room is located at the Railway Protection Force inspector's office on the first floor, with two 42-inch high-definition LCD TVs.