For the first time, in the fifty years of its existence, Thirumullavoyal railway station gets swanky-new blue steel shelters for its commuters. A week ago, workers of the Southern Railway started the work of replacing the existing old and broken cement shelters with steel ones.
The exercise to give Thirumullavoyal railway station a facelift is said to have brought a lot of cheer to local residents, especially those from the southern section of Thirumullavoyal as they are cut off from CTH Road and poor bus connectivity is one of the issues they are grappling with.
Commuters from this section have to travel at least three kilometres, from interior areas to reach CTH Road and another three kilometres from CTH Road to reach Ambattur Old Town (OT) bus terminus, which is the nearest bus terminus for them.
Located between the railway stations at Ambattur and Annanoor (near Avadi), the Thirumullavoyal railway station provides connectivity to Arakkonam, Avadi, Villivakkam, Perambur and, Chennai Central for college students and industrial workers from a cluster of Industrial units found in the neighbourhood.
From Thirumullavoyal and adjoining areas, it takes train commuters around half-an-hour to reach the Central railway station.
On the other hand, for those relying on bus to reach the same destination, it takes nearly two hours.
Of the four tracks at the Thirumullavoyal railway station, two are meant for suburban trains. Recently, the sandy platform was replaced with cement concrete floor. A strip of rough tiles have been laid on the platform close to the track to ensure commuters have a grip while boarding trains.
Old light fittings are also being repaired. A fresh coat of paint has been given to signboards at the station.
“Even in the event of a slight drizzle, we get completely drenched as rainwater leaks through broken cement shelters. We try to take shelter from the rain by waiting under the trees at the station,” said S. Vani, a commuter from Thirumullavoyal.
Every day, hundreds of commuters from as far as Arakkonam, Tirutani and Tiruvallur reach the city taking the suburban rail network every day.
On an average, around 260 trips are being made by suburban trains on the western rail route between Chennai Central and Arakkonam, which is the last suburban railway station in the western part of the city, every day.
In fact, after Chennai Beach – Tambaram section, the Chennai Central – Arakkonam, around 80km from the city, is the busiest suburban rail route in the city with a flow of around three lakh commuters per day.