About 500 suburban electric trains operate from Tambaram, including those between Chennai Beach and Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram.

[6][7] Further, more than 25 express trains, including those bound for Howrah and other places in the northern India, pass through the town.

[14][15] The station's proximity to the Central Warehousing Corporation's godown located at Chitlapakkam makes it technically important.

However, only two rail lines exist between Tambaram and Chengalpattu, which are not enough to meet the growing demand of the section let alone its future requirements.

March 2013 has been set as the deadline for the completion of the first phase of Tambaram station development project, and Southern Railway had prepared and submitted to the railway board a proposal to lay additional lines for a 30 kilometres (19 mi) stretch from Tambaram to Chengalpattu at an estimate of ₹ 2,000 million but the board is yet to give its approval.

[16] As a first step towards this, Southern Railways plans to set up a coaching terminal at Tambaram at an approximate cost of ₹ 340 million.

Subsequently, the conversion of lines at platforms 3, 4 and 5 into broad gauge was taken up but had to be halted due to a shortage of funds.

[11] A new station building with 10 ticket counters at the western side of the track was constructed at a cost of ₹ 13 million in 2003.

Space was provided for food courts, coffee parlours, a medical shop and public call offices and also for shunting wagons.

Every day, 1,500 MTC buses are run from Tambaram to Mamallapuram, Tiruporur (on OMR), Kovalam and Vadamalli (on ECR), Sriperumbudur and Walajabad, among other places.

To begin with, the Southern Railway decided to construct an escalator at the main entrance and another at the eastern side (facing Madras Christian College).

[24] In March 2021, an electronic interlocking system for facilitating faster movement of trains at the Tambaram yard was commissioned.

Work on the integrated security system began on 17 August 2011, which will include more closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, door-frame metal detectors, baggage screening devices costing about ₹ 4 million and a separate control room for the Railway Protection Force (RPF) for better communication and co-ordination with the headquarters.

The high-resolution CCTV cameras, capable of zooming down to 100 metres (330 ft) and being remote controlled, are enabled with Internet Protocol.

[6] The ₹ 400-million Integrated Security Surveillance System (ISSS) project is implemented jointly by the Southern Railways and HCL Infosystems.