Commuters demand more trains from areas beyond Chengalpattu
Thousands of residents of around 50 villages in and around Maduranthagam travel to the city daily, most of whom are students. Even though the footfall is massive, the train frequency is abysmal.
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CHENNAI: Commute is not the easiest part of the day for thousands of people from Maduranthagam, Melmaruvathur and Acharapakkam who march to the city for work, as they are forced to travel footboard due to less frequency of trains. They complain that the railways focus on the Tambaram - Beach route, leaving others beyond the area in the lurch.
Thousands of residents of around 50 villages in and around Maduranthagam travel to the city daily, most of whom are students. Even though the footfall is massive, the train frequency is abysmal.
According to them, the services between Maduranthagam are mostly express trains, and they even have only two unreserved coaches. Even then, seats are not guaranteed in the chaotic morning hours, pushing a lot of commuters to take up travel on footboard. Many would even get inside the reserved compartment and occupy the empty seats.
The situation worsens at night as there are no train facilities after 8.30 pm. The only option left for officer goers and students returning from special classes is the bus.
"There are trains every 10 minutes on Tambaram-Beach line. On the Beach-Chengalpattu line, there are services every 30 minutes. But there are no EMUs for areas beyond Chengalpattu like Maduranthagam, Melmaruvathur and Acharapakkam, and only very few express trains are operated every day," say worried commuters.
S Ramanathan of Maduranthagam elaborates on the hassle of boarding a train daily. He reiterates his ordeal of travelling on footboard on the train every morning and struggling to get a bus in the evenings to return home.
"Even the number of buses is insufficient to manage the crowd, and it will take at least 9 pm to reach Maduranthagam from the city," he added.
Kancheepuram MP G Selvam said, "I have already sent petitions to the Railway minister to increase the train frequency to Melmaruvathur and Maduranthagam. I have also decided to take the issue to the parliament.
The commuters said the Southern Railway is concentrating only on the Beach-Tambaram route, where the railways are about to operate Air Conditioned EMUs, but in Maduranthagam, we are suffering without a train facility. As Chennai is expanding its railways, it should also consider developing the suburbs."
An SR official said most train schedules have been changed according to the ongoing development works. He assured that works on developing routes in Kancheepuram and an increase in trains to Maduranthagam, Melmaruvathur, and Achurapakkam are underway.
