Fewer trains to Chennai from Chengalpet starting Monday

CHENNAI: From Monday, train commuters on the Chengalpet-Tambaram-Beach route and the Velachery-Beach MRTS section will have to make do with fewer services. Southern Railway has cancelled 17 EMU specials started in January to meet the rush on trains after bus fares were hiked.
A railway spokesperson said this was due to low patronage on these specials. However, sources in the Railways’ Chennai division said nine services were cancelled on the Beach-Chengalpet section because of operational problems.

In January, Chennai division had introduced 30 EMU specials as there was an increase of around 10 lakh commuters daily. This number was brought down to 23 in the next few months. In April, four cross-sectoral specials were announced, which would connect Gummidipoondi and Tambaram/Chengalpet, but only on weekdays.

Except these cross-sectoral specials, all others were quietly phased out, with the final batch’s cancellation announced on Saturday.

According to Railway statistics, there was an increase of 5-10 lakh passengers in the suburban train network in Chennai division immediately after the bus fare hike. Trains were obviously cheaper; a journey from Mandaveli to Chennai Central costs Rs 11-13 on MTC buses, but only Rs 5 on the MRTS section.

“We took feedback from operating and commercial department staff associated with train ticketing and running based on which these specials were cancelled,” said a senior official.

Sources in the Chennai division, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the MRTS specials were run during non-peak hours, which resulted into low patronage.

“However, the specials on Chengalpet section had good patronage. The real reason for cancellation is operational difficulties after the St Thomas mount accident. All locals are now run on the slow line and hence it has led to terminal capacity constraints at Beach,” said an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

To cushion the blow of this cancellation, a new special has been announced from Kanchipuram to Chennai Beach at 6:10am, which will reach at 8:55am. It will stop at all stations. There was a two-hour gap in the morning train schedule from Kanchipuram to Chennai, which would now be resolved by this change, which would benefit all office-goers.

The 6:40pm EMU from Beach to Chengalpet has also been extended to Kanchipuram, reaching at 9:40pm.

K Baskar, member of Chennai Divisional Rail Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC), said SR should give details of patronage of the specials that were cancelled. “There is a round-the-clock demand for trains to Tambaram and Chengalpet. Cancellation of these specials is unacceptable. Ticket sales proof should be released as evidence,” he said. Other specials on the Chennai-Arakkonam section were also cancelled without notice, he said.