EPS writes to Railway Minister seeking resumption of EMU, suburban trains in Chennai

For staff only: Railway staff and health workers boarding the special sub-urban train at Basin Bridge railway station in Chennai on Thursday.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has written to Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal requesting him to instruct Southern Railway to resume the Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) and suburban train services in and around Chennai to help the general public travel and facilitate the quick revival of the economy.

In his letter, Mr. Palaniswami said the Southern Railway had resumed operation of a number of inter-State and intra-State trains in Tamil Nadu.

“Similarly, the State Government has permitted public transport including Metro rail in Chennai in order to revive the economic activities. State Government [TN] has already made a request on September 2, 2020 to resume Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) and Sub-urban Trains in and around Chennai for general public,” he said.

Mr. Palaniswami said that these services be allowed to operate adopting the Standard Operating Procedures laid out for COVID-19.