Inspite of the construction of additional rail tracks at Moore Market Complex (MMC) suburban railway station, the new time table announced by the Southern Railway did not include any new train services.
However, an official of the Southern Railway said: “There is a proposal for constructing a new bridge replacing the old one at Elephant Gate near Salt Cotaurs; but we are awaiting the State government’s nod so that the cost could be shared.”
Confirming the proposal to construct a new bridge at Elephant Gate, a senior official of the Chennai Corporation said the civic body would foot half of the cost of the project.
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“The project is at the preliminary stage and the government is waiting for a Detailed Project Report (DPR) from the Southern Railway,” the official said.
Commuters upset
With the new rail tracks at Moore Market Complex suburban railway station, commuters from Thiruvallur and Arakkonam were happy that train services were not getting held up at the Basin Bridge railway station — which was the situation before additional tracks and platforms were constructed exclusively at MMC. However, commuters from Avadi and beyond were upset that the Southern Railway had not introduced any new services.
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T. Sadagopan, a commuter from Pattabhiram, said that most travellers were disappointed that no new additional train services were being introduced towards Avadi and Thiruvallur in the new train timings.
Southern Railway officials said the existing Elephant Gate bridge was creating bottlenecks, preventing more suburban train services from becoming operational.
They also said that the construction of additional tracks on the 5th and 6th lines, and the platforms have improved the train services on the suburban section.
Also, the removal of ‘caution driving’ on the stretch between MMC and Basin Bridge railway stations has reduced the travel time by several minutes, benefitting the suburban commuters, the officials added.