A large number of office-goers bound for Velachery railway station were stranded at Chennai Beach railway station after an Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) train derailed on Monday morning.
The derailment of an EMU on the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) section caused the disruption of over 10 suburban train services between Chennai Beach and Velachery railway stations on both directions. The suburban train services on the MRTS section were disrupted for over two hours.
Normally, the early morning services run full towards Velachery with passengers arriving from the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR Chennai Central railway station and office-goers bound for the Tidel Park in Thiruvanmiyur.
S. Thandavarayan, who resides in Triplicane, said he reached his office in Tidel Park late by more than an hour. However, with train services stopped on both directions, trains from Chennai Beach were running packed to capacity once the services were resumed after 7.50 a.m.
A senior official of the Southern Railway said an empty EMU while being shunted towards the entry point of track nos. 7 and 8 derailed leading to stoppage of 10 train services in both directions. Normally in the morning hours, unlike the Tambaram-Beach section, train services are limited on the Beach-Velachery route. The official said the rakes which derailed around 6 a.m. was put back on track within one-and-a-half hours and services were resumed.
The railway official pointed out that normalcy on the MRTS sector could be brought only by 10 a.m. To ease the congestion and compensate for the stoppage of train services, the Chennai division operated 10 special services.
