Special suburban trains for essential services staff in Chennai from October 5

Only essential services staff allowed; they have to produce travel permission letters issued by the government’s nodal officer.

The Avadi Railway Station on March 22, 2020.

Southern Railway will operate workmen special suburban trains from October 5, following the State government’s requests.

A limited number of trains will be operated by the Chennai division on all routes, including Chennai Central-Avadi/Thiruvallur/Arakkonam, Chennai Beach-Chengalpattu/Tambaram and Chennai Beach-Velachery.

In a release on Friday, Southern Railway said only staff members of essential services, authorised by the government, would be allowed to travel in these trains. These workers would have to produce travel permission letters issued by the government’s nodal officer. The letters would have details such as the name, designation, department/office of the employees, and the names of the originating and destination stations.

The commuters will be issued daily tickets/season tickets only on production of the letters in original, along with the photo identity cards issued by the government departments.

To prevent unauthorised persons from entering these trains, the Southern Railway has put in place two layers of checks. Railway Protection Force/Government Railway Police personnel will check the identity proof at the entry points and ticket checking staff members will check train/season tickets and the identity proof near the platforms.

The Southern Railway will take several measures to prevent COVID-19, including sanitising the rakes and thermal-screening the passengers. Commuters must wear face masks and maintain physical distancing while travelling on the trains and waiting at stations.

A senior official of Southern Railway said that at present, 30 special trains were being operated on the suburban routes.