Madras Central was part of South Indian Railway Company during the British rule. The company was established in 1890 and was initially headquartered in Trichinopoly. Egmore railway station was made its northern terminus in 1908.[15] It was then shifted to Madurai and later to Madras Central. With the opening of the Egmore railway station, plans were first made of linking Madras Central and Egmore, which was later dropped.
The company operated a suburban electric train service for Madras city from May 1931 onwards in the Madras Beach–Tambaram section.
In 1959, additional changes were made to the station.
Electrification of the lines at the station began in 1979, when the section up to Gummidipoondi was electrified on 13 April 1979.
The lines up to Tiruvallur were electrified on 29 November 1979 while the tracks along Platforms 1 to 7 were electrified on 29 December 1979.