‘Replace PA systems at Velachery MRTS station’

Regulars at the Velachery MRTS railway station have appealed to Southern Railway officials to have the public address (PA) systems there replaced. There are four announcement systems, all of them installed on platform number one.

The announcements from these systems are in three languages, Tamil, Hindi and English. P. Narayanan, a resident of Velachery, says, “The announcements are not clear as the speakers echo these messages. There is a jarring note to these sounds. And, during rush hour, it is extremely difficult to understand these messages. Sometimes, the decibel level from the speakers are inaudibly low.” R. Raghu, a resident of Perumbakkam, says, “As these public address systems are of little use, most of the time, I seek the information I want from an official at the station.”

“They can go in for modern PA systems which are easier on the ear. At periodic intervals, the speakers must be inspected for quality.”

An alternative

A few commuters have suggested that the Southern Railway replace these audio systems with attractive visual display boards, which will silently provide information about train services. A Southern Railway official has assured to do the needful.