Two persons were run over by suburban electric trains while they were crossing the track near Chromepet railway station on Thursday morning.
In the first accident at around 6 a.m. near the southern end of the railway station, T.Kasi (58) died on the spot after he was hit by an EMU that was bound for Chennai Beach from Tambaram. A resident of Indra Nagar, Chromepet, he was employed in a private firm and on his way to work.
Around 11 a.m., C. Shanthi, around 45 years old, met with a similar fate when an EMU hit her while she was crossing the track under the road overbridge at MIT Gate. In the impact, her body was dragged to a distance of 50 feet. A resident of Salem, she had come to Chennai, where her daughter was working in a software company.
The Government Railway Police removed the bodies to Tambaram Taluk Government Hospital in Chromepet for post-mortem.
Residents of Chromepet and onlookers voiced their concern at the inadequate measures to prevent frequent deaths on tracks near the station.
They blamed Southern Railway for not building a concrete wall below the road overbridge to prevent trespassing on the track. Chromepet had become the most accident prone in the Beach–Tambaram section, some of them said.
Pallavaram Municipal Councillor from Nehru Nagar Vijayalakshmi Santhanam said several thousand people crossed the track every day.
Most of those killed in such accidents belonged to localities in Chromepet, Hasthinapuram and Chitlapakkam.
The bridge was in use since 2006 and there was a staircase for use by pedestrians on one side only and as it was poorly maintained, people preferred to cross the track. Southern Railway, Highways Department and Pallavaram Municipality could consider providing an escalator for the convenience of pedestrians, especially senior citizens and the disabled.
