In a relief to a large number of commuters in the Chengalpattu section, who have been inconvenienced by operational delays in the suburban train services, Southern Railway is set to complete work on the newly inaugurated third line.
Signalling and track alignment will be completed by July-end. This will pave the way for Southern Railway to speed up suburban services from the first week of August. The third line between Tambaram and Chengalpattu was commissioned to be a dedicated line for express and mail services to ease the peak-hour congestion on the suburban lines and to help in increasing the train services. The project, executed at a cost of nearly ₹600 crore, was commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May this year.
Since then, commuters have been waiting for more suburban services and hoping that the speed of the trains would go up. Office-goers found that the suburban trains from Chengalpattu were kept waiting inordinately at some stations during peak hours in order to allow express trains to proceed. As Tambaram is the changeover station, the suburban trains from Chengalpattu are mostly held up near Perungalathur. The problem of punctuality plaguing the suburban services has forced a large number of office-goers from Vandalur, Perungalathur and Urapakkam to proceed to the Tambaram station from where more suburban services are available.
A senior official of the Chennai Division of Southern Railway said that after the third line was commissioned, very few express trains were being operated along with peak-hour suburban services on the third line. The Chennai Division planned to increase the number of services from the first week of August to help the large number of office-goers bound for the city, and those working in the industrial belts near Chengalpattu to reach work on time.
The official said track stabilisation work to increase the speed to 100 kilometres per hour would be completed by July-end. By Independence Day, more trains would be operated on the third line regularly. As part of the project to increase train speed, the Multiple Section Digital Axle Counter, using track machines, was working on the third line for track consolidation by taking line blocks regularly. The Signal and Engineering Departments were working together to resolve the signal blocks, he added.
Shuttle services
T. Ashokan, a resident of Maraimalai Nagar and a regular commuter, urged Southern Railway to operate shuttle services, comprising six-car rakes, between Chengalpattu and Tambaram more frequently as they would help traders and other commuters reach the commercial hub of Tambaram at an economical cost.
Activists point to the persistent problem of the level crossings 45 and 46 near Perungalathur getting choked with vehicular traffic, holding up closure of the level-crossing gates, thus delaying the operation of the suburban trains. They want Southern Railway and the Tambaram Police Commissionerate to regulate the traffic at the level crossings by posting traffic policemen and Railway Protection Force personnel.
