North Chennai, which has the largest working-class population that serves a huge industrial belt, still has the poorest public transport system, especially the suburban train services. The industrial belt comprises Ennore, Ponneri, Wimco Nagar, Athipattu, Manali, Gummidipoondi, and Sulurpetta. North Chennai also has residential localities like Tondiarpet, VOC Nagar, Tiruvottiyur, Nandiambakkam, and Minjur, where mostly the weaker sections reside.
Expectations not met
Despite being the cheapest mode of public transport in the city, the suburban trains in north Chennai have fallen short of the requirements of the commuters. In fact, frequency of suburban train services is least among the four sections where they are run: Beach-Tambaram and Chengalpattu; Moore Market Complex-Avadi, Tiruvallur and beyond; Beach- Gummidipoondi; and Beach-Velachery (the Mass Rapid Transit System-MRTS). The MRTS started only a decade ago, but it runs more services than the regular train services to Gummidipoondi and Sulurpetta.
Southern Railway has created a good track network, similar to the one in the western corridor, for operating suburban, mail and express services, but the congestion, caused by the freight trains operating through the north corridor from the Kamarajar port, has resulted in the limited number of train services in the north Chennai corridor, say officials of the Chennai Division of Southern Railway.
The Chennai Division operates suburban train services from the Moore Market Complex station to Gummidipoondi and Sulurpetta. A few services to Gummidipoondi and Sulurpetta are also operated from Beach.
A senior official says six lines make up the suburban network to Avadi (west) and Gummidipoondi (north) from Moore Market Complex to Basin Bridge, from where two lines are available to Korukkupet. From Korukkupet to Attipattu, there are four lines. Thereafter, only two lines are available towards the Gudur section coming under Andhra Pradesh.
At present, the third and fourth lines are being laid from the Beach station to Korukkupet for operation of more electrical multiple unit (EMU) trains and mail and express trains.
A total of 78 EMU services are operated towards Gummidipoondi, covering 17 railway stations, and 144 express trains pass through the northern stretch through Egmore and Dr. MGR Chennai Central Station, the official says. In fact, the track improvement work has been carried out till Gudur for operating express trains at a speed of 130 kilometres per hour.
Though the Chennai Division has prioritised the northern stretch for operating mail and express trains, the EMU services have not gained traction, as the number of passengers is not so high as it is in Tambaram and in between Tiruvallur and Arakkonam. The number of passengers a day in the north Chennai section is 1.32 lakh. It is even below the number using the MRTS services: 1.60 lakh, he reasons.
More trains needed from Sulurpetta
T. Mallaiya, a regular commuter from Sulurpetta, says the Sulurpetta station is located near Sriharikota and has a good potential for passengers to use the suburban train services. “But there are hardly three to four train services,” he says. “Southern Railway should operate more trains once the station is redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme,” he says.
To enhance the network infrastructure, Southern Railway is executing the long-delayed fourth line between Egmore and Beach. The project is being implemented at a cost of ₹274.20 crore. It was started in September last year, and is expected to be completed in August.
The completion of the project would help in increasing the frequency of long-distance and freight trains, another Southern Railway official says. The fourth line is important for expanding the services from Egmore and Tambaram, which has been made the third terminal, in a boost to the much-needed connectivity in the region. The fourth line will help in decongesting the existing lines and bolster the operational efficiency of the suburban network, he says.
Seamless operation
Meanwhile, commuters want the Chennai Division of Southern Railway to segregate the operation of the north-bound suburban trains from the Moore Market Complex station from where the west-bound suburban trains are also operated.
They point to the clash in the operation of suburban and express trains near the Basin Bridge station because of the plying of the north-bound suburban trains from the Moore Market Complex station. The shifting of the operation of the Gummidipoondi suburban trains to the Beach station will help in seamless operation of the suburban trains towards Tambaram and Velachery.
S. Maniratnam, a resident of Gummidipoondi, says the suburban trains operated from the Moore Market Complex station have to cross over on the fast line near the Basin Bridge station, causing a delay in the operation of the suburban trains towards Avadi and Tiruvallur. They are held up at the Moore Market Complex station itself or at the Basin Bridge station to give way for express and mail trains.
The commuters also say that the complete shifting of the north-bound suburban trains to the Beach station could give railway officials the flexibility to operate trains from Gummidipoondi to Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram, similar to the Arakkonam fast train operated from Arakkonam to Chengalpattu through Beach.
In fact, residents of north Chennai are also pinning their hope on Southern Railway completing the fourth line from Beach to Egmore so that the suburban train services from Velachery to Gummidipoondi would be restored. At present, the MRTS has been truncated at the Chintadripet station, forcing commuters from Gummidipoondi and Avadi to take a bus or an autorickshaw to the Moore Market Complex station for taking the suburban trains.
