When Central stn shuts down on Sunday, don’t count on MTC, rly

V Ayyappan | TNn

Dec 11, 2009:

Chennai: Passengers who have booked on trains that start from Tiruvallur or Arakkonam instead of Chennai Central on Sunday could have a tough time as neither the Southern Railway nor Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has so far made arrangement to help them reach these stations that are over 40 km away.
Central will be shutdown from 9am to 9.40pm on Sunday for work to extend some of the platforms. Fourteen train departures and 12 arrivals have been shifted to other railway stations. A majority of the trains have been diverted to Egmore. But passengers bound for Mangalore, Hubli, Tirupati and Thiruvananthapuram may have to make their own arrangements to reach Tiruvallur or Arakkonam to board trains.
While buses may be arranged to bring passengers who arrive at Tiruvallur or Arakkonam to the city, there will not be any exclusive bus service for departing passengers from Chennai Central to other railway stations.
The railways will operate EMU services once an hour from Chennai Beach railway station to Arakkonam, Tiruvallur and Gummidipoondi because there will be no suburban service from Central on Sunday.
Passengers feel that suburban train services may not be reliable to reach Tiruvallur or Arakkonam as the trains may not reach the destinations on time. The railways has approached MTC to arrange buses to meet passenger demands.
MTC is planning to increase services from places like Perambur, Broadway and Avadi to various destinations. “We will ensure that adequate services are operated from Egmore to Perambur, Avadi and other places,” said an MTC official. He added: “We have asked depot managers and area officers to be present on Sunday to ensure that passengers are not affected due to the shut-down.” Depending upon the crowd and the demand from railways, we will operate more services, he added.
However, passengers are not too happy with the arrangements. “MTC should operate special buses to take passengers from Chennai Central to other railway stations because regular buses may be crowded with Sunday travellers,” said KS Gopalakrishnan, a former member of Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee. Meanwhile, many passengers have cancelled tickets or postponed travel plans to avoid going to Tiruvallur and Arakkonam.
Divisional railway manager SK Kulshrestha said: “Arriving and departing passengers can use the EMU services in the Beach-Arakkonam sector. We have also requested MTC to operate buses.”
A senior railway official said, “Instructions have been given to railway authorities to make non-stop announcements about the rescheduling and diversions on Sunday.”