Where convenience takes a back seat

The suburban railway service was inaugurated in the city nearly a century ago, with a view to increase connectivity to the suburbs. Today, the network carries nearly 9.6 lakh commuters a day, but most stations lack even basic amenities.

A view of the Basin Bridge railway station. Users want cleaner stations, more coaches and more roof coverage in platforms. Commuters want the loop lines at Basin Bridge, Ambattur and Avadi to be converted to main lines as the trains get delayed by 15 minutes at these locations. Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Commuters are reminded of the days when they never used to be late even while using the Meter Guage services. Frequency during rush hours, commuters’ needs, including safe water supply, public address systems and hygiene around platforms are their basic but strong demands still. Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam