Hundreds of villagers thronged a railway gate near Ambathurai on Tuesday and resorted to a sit-in protest on the railway track for more than three hours causing detention of many trains plying between Madurai and Dindigul.
They demanded a permanent gate keeper at the railway gate in Ambatturai. Ambatturai railway station is located at 11 km from Dindigul on the way to Madurai. To the east of the station, lies a number of villages including Samiyarpatti, Thoppampatti, Annanagar, Indira Nagar and Ernagampatti and there are many farmlands at the foothills of Sirumalai.
A railway gate was opened near the station for the villagers to commute from one side of the track to the other. But there was no gate keeper and the gate lies locked for most part of the day making it difficult for the people to cross the line. Subsequently, the people made a small way adjacent to the gate, just enough for two-wheelers to cross but the railway officials closed the path as it was dangerous.
Irked by this, a number of villagers staged a protest blocking the track for nearly three hours. They attempted to block the Tejas Express that was running from Madurai to Chennai but the railway police intervened and held talks with the villagers.
Amrita Express was stopped midway near Ambathurai, a passenger train between Erode and Tirunelveli was stopped near Vellode and a passenger train from Nagercoil to Coimbatore was stopped near Kodai Road.
The protesters relented around 5 p.m. after which the trains crossed Ambathurai station.
