Residents of Karasangal village, near Achirapakkam, tried to stage a rail roko near the railway station on Saturday.
The villagers claimed that their plea to reopen the railway station had failed to evoke a favourable response from Southern Railway, forcing them to protest.
Enquiries reveal that four years ago, Southern Railway decided to shut down the Karasangal station citing “poor income.” However, villagers objected to it saying that the train was the only available public transport facility to reach major destinations in Kancheepuram district and the neighbouring Villupuram district. They submitted a plea to Southern Railway urging it not to shut down the station.
Three passenger services — Egmore to Villupuram, Melmaruvathur to Villupuram and Puducherry to Tirupati — remained a reliable mode of public transport to Karasangal and six other hamlets around the village as there were no bus services to these villages, residents said.
Teachers attached to the government and quasi-government schools in this region used these services to reach their educational institutions from their home and farmers to transport agricultural produce to nearby towns.
As the pleas to revive the station failed to evoke any response from Southern Railway, the villagers gathered in large numbers at the Karasangal level crossing on Saturday morning to block the movement of the Chennai Egmore Guruvayur Express train.
Police intervened and asked them to take up the issue with the railway authorities.
