The newly-launched train connecting Chennai and the pilgrim hub of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh has done the vanishing act after just a couple of days of operation, much to the consternation of devotees and commuters hoping to patronise the service more frequently. Southern Railway officials say the MEMU was pulled out of service due to the lack of a maintenance slot and promise that the train will resume operations within a fortnight.
The Train No. 66047 Chennai Central-Tirupati MEMU (Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit) was launched without much fanfare on March 22, with a scheduled departure from Chennai at 9.30 a.m. and arrival at Tirupati at 1.30 p.m. In the return direction, the train’s scheduled departure was 5.20 p.m. and arrival at Chennai Central 9.10 p.m.
But, barely a couple of days into the launch, the train has been taken off the tracks.
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“The train had to be pulled out because we could not find a maintenance slot. It will be resumed very soon,” said a top Southern Railway official. However, railway sources say the hasty introduction of the new train, and its hastier withdrawal, is nothing more than a sleight of hand.
While it is common for the railways to follow a rake-sharing arrangement that deploys the same rakes for different routes and destinations, in this case the train to Tirupati was launched using a rake of a passenger service in Kerala that had been despatched to the Avadi Car Shed for periodic over haul (full maintenance carried out in 18 month or 24 month cycles).
“There is always immense pressure on the railways to introduce services announced in the Railway Budget, but in this instance it appears that authorities put the cart before the horse,” a railway source said.
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For travellers to Tirupati, the MEMU service offered a much cheaper mode of travel. Compared to the Rs. 55 (second sitting) or Rs. 200 (chair car) it takes to reach Tirupati by the Saptagiri Express, a MEMU ride costs just Rs. 30.
Railway sources in Kerala said the rake of the 66604/ 66605 Shornur-Coimbatore-Shornur Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) service operated under Palakkad railway division was taken for maintenance to Avadi for the periodic overhauling on January 19.
The periodic overhauling of the MEMU rake, done every 18 months, was over by February 27.
A top railway official told The Hindu that the MEMU rake was yet to be returned to the Palakkad railway division till date as it had been sent to RCF Kapurthala to set right technical issues. In its place, authorities are now operating the daily MEMU service in the Shornur-Coimbatore-Shornur stretch using conventional rake and a diesel locomotive.
The six-coach formation (two coaches fewer) — as opposed to the eight-car MEMU service with less number of seats is already aggravating hardship for commuters using the Shornur-Coimbatore segment.
(With additional reporting by S. Anil Radhakrishnan)