Introduction of fast locals as it was during the “good old days of metre gauge,” operating only 12-car rakes upto Chengalpattu, increasing the number of ticket counters and posting additional staff in them, increasing the frequency of ordinary services during rush hour, addressing the problem of huge quantity of garbage generated at the railway stations are issues that come to the mind of commuters using suburban electric train services.
Sathya Chandran, secretary of Perungalathur – Paranur Rail Commuters Association, said that in the morning, commuters swarm platforms at Tambaram and others down the route, waiting for ordinary or “fast local” services from Chengalpattu.
“The frequency in the morning should be maintained as it was earlier. Similarly, fast locals starting from Beach should follow the timings of MG fast services when they were in operation then,” he said.
He asked why announcements cannot be made in each railway station, or at least important ones, that the approaching train was a 12-car rake or a 9-car rake. V.E. Subramanian, organiser of Traffic and Transportation Forum, said commuters waste a lot of time waiting for tickets as much as they spend on their journey in electric trains.
Automated ticket vending machines had not become popular with the commuters.
Subways for pedestrians or foot overbridges are also poorly maintained in some railway stations, said P.Aravindan, secretary of Sundaram Colony Residents Welfare Association, Tambaram Sanatorium.
