DINDIGUL
Hundreds of people, including traders of Vadamadurai and farmers from several villages around it such as Thennampatti, Kanapadi, Pilathu, blocked the track near Vadamadurai railway station on Sunday, protesting the construction activities taking place at the station as part of track doubling work.
Chennai-bound Vaigai Express was running half an hour behind schedule owing to the rail roko. Seventy-three people were arrested in this connection. All shops and business establishments were closed in Vadamadurai in support of the agitation.
A large number of police personnel had been deployed at the station. They prevented most of the agitators from entering the station. However, a section of the agitators managed to reach the track through a private farm and sat on the track when Vaigai Express was approaching Vadamadurai. The train was stopped a few metres away from the station, and it remained there for 30 minutes.
The police evacuated the agitators and allowed the train to cross the station.
The traders alleged that the railways had planned to convert a loop line leading to the yard into the second track as part of track doubling between Villupuram and Madurai.
Moreover, the new platform under construction was also not beneficial to passengers, the protesters said. They said the station was situated near a blind curve. The 420-metre-long platform was too high. Passengers could see express trains approaching the station from the blind curve at high speed only about five seconds ahead.
The third track should be laid between the two existing tracks keeping in mind the safety of passengers, and the railways should construct an overbridge as the road near the railway level crossing was very narrow, they demanded.
All the arrested persons were released in the evening.
In view of recurring protests by the people of the region, the Southern Railway had recently announced that it had no plan to downgrade Vadamadurai railway station.
