The Southern Railway on Tuesday launched a campaign on safe travel as part of an international level crossing awareness week.
The Railway Protection Force interacted with passengers at a level crossing in Chengalpattu, and officials of the Safety Division took part in a similar campaign at Thakkolam near Arakkonam. They appealed to motorists, cyclists and pedestrians not to cross when the gates are down.
“There are 12 unmanned level crossings in Chennai Division. We are focussing on autorickshaw and private vehicle drivers. The past two years have been incident free,” officials said, adding that awareness programmes would continue. The 12 unmanned level crossings are expected to be completed before this year-end, they said.
Officials said that in Chennai, there has been a demand to replace level crossings on the north and north-west lines, in addition to a few on the southern route till Tambaram with overbridges or subways.
“Cost is the biggest factor. The governments (Centre and State) need nothing less than Rs. 20 crore for an overbridge. Subways are less expensive, but they also cost more if they have to be built to accommodate taller, heavy vehicles,” they said, adding that the awareness week will conclude on Friday. India is a part of the International Union of Railways, whose member countries organise this.
While Chromepet residents have been demanding that the work on subway to replace the Radha Nagar level crossing be expedited, the highways department has now proposed a Limited Use Subway near Vaishnav College level crossing, a reply to a Right to Information Act petition has revealed.
“We welcome this proposal near Vaishnav College, but it should not meet the same fate as the Radha Nagar project,” said V.Santhanam, an activist who filed the petition. The Radha Nagar subway project was to be completed in a year after work on it began in February 2009. Work by Southern Railway has been completed. The Radha Nagar project has been facing opposition from around 400 families who live on either side of the level crossing, municipal sources said.
Pallavaram MLA E. Karunanidhi of DMK said he would bring together the highways and railways officials and residents groups to ensure that there is no denial of access to four-wheelers.
(Reporting by K.Manikandan and T.Madhavan)
RPF asks motorists, cyclists and pedestrians not to cross tracks when the gates are down
