Commuters from Avadi, Tiruvallur, and Arakkonam, who were happy at the resumption of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) services from Chennai Beach to Velachery on Tuesday (October 29, 2024) after a gap of 14 months, had a rude shock when they got to know that the trains would not be stopping at the Park Town railway station.
The Park Town railway station is the nodal link for thousands of commuters to board the MRTS services from the Moore Market complex suburban railway station located next to the Dr. MGR Chennai Central station.
Earlier, the Southern Railway had stopped the MRTS services, operated from Velachery to Beach, till Chintadripet to facilitate the construction of the fourth line between Egmore and Chennai Beach. Between Chennai Beach and Chintadripet, the MRTS had two stops, namely Park Town and Fort. The MRTS services were stopped at Chintadripet from August 27 last year.
The commuters blamed the Southern Railway for the poor planning in the resumption of services from Chennai Beach with no stoppage at Park Town.
R. Senthil, a regular commuter from Arakkonam and working at the TIDEL Park at Thiruvanmiyur, said there was a “complete failure of the officials of the Southern Railway in properly planning and resuming the MRTS services.” While on the one hand, the railway has restricted the MRTS train services at an interval of 25 minutes, on the other, hundreds of commuters from the west and north sections, who usually board trains from the Park Town station, have to take a long detour to Fort station to board now.
Commuters also pointed to the absence of announcements by the railway officials about MRTS services not stopping at the Park Town station, at the MMC station, or at the Park station, where they usually get down to switch trains. As a result, hundreds had to go disappointed to the bus stop near Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital to reach Chintadripet to board the MRTS trains.
A senior official of the Chennai division of Southern Railway said only on Tuesday morning was it announced that the MRTS trains would not be stopping at the Park Town station, as shelter and other civil construction work was pending.
The Chennai division had resumed the MRTS services, with the first train service to be operated from Velachery to Chennai Beach at 4 a.m. and the final services at 10.20 p.m. Similarly, in the return direction, the first service from Chennai Beach would be operated at 4.53 a.m. and the last service at 11.13 a.m.
Published - October 29, 2024 03:34 pm IST