CHENNAI: Southern Railway has increased the number of suburban trains from 204 to 244 a day, including services to Tiruttani and Sulurpeta.
The move comes after railways allowed more people to use the services meant for workmen. The demand for suburban trains continues to be high as most of the firms and offices have started functioning with 100% attendance.
Railways, however, is opening up the services in a gradual manner by adding different categories of commuters one after the other to prevent crowding.
In addition to private firm employees of essential sectors, those who hold air tickets and express train tickets are also allowed to board trains for last mile connectivity. This is likely to improve patronage for long distance trains, said an official.
He also said that suburban services would be increased gradually rather than opening it up on a single day like the bus services.
Though the state government has informed the railways to resume suburban services, Indian Railways has not got permission from the home ministry to do so. Instead, the zone is increasing the frequency of services and is allowing more people to travel after examining their identity cards. But this is not helping the commuters in Chennai. More than 10 lakh people depend on suburban services to reach workplaces, a large majority of them working in the informal sector.
S Murugaian, secretary, Thirunindravur Rail Passengers Association, said, "It is a welcome move that more people can travel by suburban trains. But what is the need for such step-by-step opening up of the services. If people can travel without showing their ID cards on MTC buses why not in suburban trains too. lot of people are struggling to reach the city by road to join work as road traffic has been diverted for construction of a bridge at Pattabhiram. Railways should allow the public to travel by suburban trains and they should ensure that the people follow all precautions."