It is situated in the neighbourhoods of West Mambalam and T. Nagar, about 11 km (6.8 mi) from Chennai Beach, and has an elevation of 13 m (43 ft) above sea level.

The suburban service between Madras Beach and Tambaram was inaugurated on 11 May 1931 and in this regard, two railway tracks were electrified by 15 November 1931.

[9] The passenger reservation system (PRS) centre at the station caters to residents of the neighbourhoods including T. Nagar, West Mambalam, Kodambakkam, and Vadapalani.

The station is covered by the ₹ 400-million Integrated Security Surveillance System (ISSS) project implemented in 2012.

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, with the footage transmitted and stored using an Internet Protocol system.