A fissure in the railway track near Moore Market along the suburban route and the resultant diversion could have cost many students a career in medicine.
On Sunday, around 25,000 students from across the State took the All India Premedical/Predental Entrance Test in 42 schools in the city – the only centre in Tamil Nadu, said officials of the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) regional office in Chennai.
The diversion of trains and the resultant delay meant some students who arrived a few minutes late were not allowed to take the exam.
Sanjay Kumar of Kurinji School in Namakkal had come to the city to write the exam. He had left Avadi at 7.30 a.m. for the test centre in KV, Island Grounds. He took the suburban train but it was stopped and diverted to the Beach Station two hours later. “We were at the test centre at 10.01 but he was denied permission. Calling up the CBSE and PMT officials in Delhi did not help,” his brother says.
It is not known how many such students missed out on the exams because of the fractured train track.
At a centre in West Mambalam, parents waiting for their wards to finish the exam said a few students had arrived late. A girl who came almost 15 minutes late was denied entry.
Some parents had thought ahead. A parent had come by motorcycle from Minjur as he anticipated that he would be held up at the Basin Bridge railway station.
A parent whose daughter took the test in the same centre said they arrived at the Centre at 8.30 a.m. as they feared traffic could lead to delay. “According to the CBSE instructions we cannot allow any student who comes even one minute late,” said Maria Louis, controller of examinations.
