In a few weeks, all underground stations of Chennai Metro Rail will have telephone booths to make up for the lack of mobile connectivity.
According to CMRL officials, the booths will be set up on the platform and the calls are likely to be free or with minimum charges.
“We are talking to companies to set up the landline facility, which will be installed in a few weeks,” an official said. “Till the facility is in place, passengers can get off at any station in case of an emergency, walk up to the station controller’s room and make a call,” he added. The CMRL will make an announcement in all trains and stations informing the passengers of the facility. Chennai Metro Rail sprawls over 45 km of the city and of this, 24 km are underground stretches.
At present, only Airtel and Jio customers get mobile connectivity, that too, in the limited stretch between Thirumangalam and Egmore stations. It may take sometime to get connectivity in the underground stretches, officials said.
As there was some concern among commuters whether Metro Rail was safe for women, owing to the lack of mobile connectivity, CMRL officials have decided to provide landline connection at stations.
Monitored by CCTVs
“The Metro is certainly safe and we monitor it thoroughly,” a senior official emphasised.
“We take utmost care to ensure commuters are safe. Each station has 52 to 100 cameras [depending on station size] and all corners are covered. The trains have CCTV cameras too. There is a dedicated team of personnel monitoring the CCTVs and the footage will be available for 30 days. We have both private security and State police guarding each station and the personnel are connected through wireless network,” he added.
