New tracks to speed up suburban trains

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Oct 31:

Chennai: Commuters from Arakonam can look forward to a hasslefree journey if Southern Railway’s proposal to lay new tracks to remove a bottleneck near Basin Bridge gets the Railway Board’s nod. 

    Suburban trains to Moore Market Complex station from Tiruttani, Arakonam and Gummidipoondi arrive late by more than an hour almost every morning as they are held up near Basin Bridge to make way for Express trains coming to Chennai Central. Trains are also held up for 15 to 20 minutes to allow empty rakes of long distance trains to be taken to Basin Bridge for maintenance. 

    “We are planning separate train corridors to prevent cross movement of trains. Three lines are planned on the southwest side to handle traffic from Jolarpet and another line on the east side to handle traffic from Gudur,” Southern Railway general manager MS Jayanth said. 

    Around four lakh commuters travel every day on the 171 suburban services operated in the Arakonam-Chennai section. More than 25 Express trains arrive at the Central railway station during the morning peak hours. Rly minister promises more amenities for suburban trains 

Chennai: The Southern Railway had sent a proposal to the Railway Board, suggesting that new tracks be laid to separate the movement of suburban and Express trains, its general manager, MS Jayanth, said on Friday. This will ensure that the suburban trains do not have to wait for express trains and can operate on time. 

    “We are considering different plans to remove the bottleneck so that suburban trains can be operated on time. This proposal is one among them. But the separation of corridors is different from another proposal, which was suggested as part of the expansion of Chennai central railway station more than a year ago,” Southern Railway chief public relations officer VJ Accamma said. 

    Minister of state for railways E Ahamed inspected the Chennai-Arakonam sector on Friday, and assured the commuters that Rs 35 crore-worth passenger amenities would be provided at these suburban stations. Ahamed travelled in an “inspection special” train as part of his Jan Sampark programme and met commuters at Perambur, Villivakkam, Ambattur, Avadi, Tiruvallur, Arakkonam, Katpadi, Ambur and Vaniyambadi. 

    According to Kumaran, a resident of Avadi, “The minister promised to consider our request to allot stoppage for the Mangalore-Chennai Mail at the railway station. We have also demanded more ticket counters and toilets at the station.” 

    Incidentally, the suburban time table, released on Friday, comes with a disclaimer: “Railway administration does not guarantee the arrival and departure of trains at specified timings in this time table.”