Tamil Nadu: Four ways to improve suburban train travel

CHENNAI: As commuters begin to crowd the 600 suburban train services which resumed after lockdown restrictions were relaxed, crowd control has become a Herculean task, apart from train delays, slow and inefficient ticket issuing and inadequate amenities on the three suburban routes. While travelling is relatively trouble-free on route, commuters face inconvenience on a daily basis on the Central/BeachTiruvallur and Central/BeachGummidipoondi routes. TOI looks at four solutions that are crucial to make travel smoother in the city’s most popular mass transit system. A few years ago, a bureaucrat incharge of Chennai metro rail was spotted alone at one of the stations. He had reached by a train, walked quietly past the staff, checked the platforms, ticket turnstiles, escalators and other facilities. Those who recognised him, stood up while others just went about their work. He took a few photos and quietly walked out of the station to his car. Such a scenario is unheard of in the railways, where Chennai division officers are saddled with running long distance trains and managing the city’s biggest railway stations. The city’s suburban railway network may be second biggest after Mumbai, but there is no exclusive team of officers to manage the system like it is done in Mumbai. Though Bibek Debroy committee’s interim report suggested that suburban rail should be hived off and should be run with state government participation, the has not acted on it. The result: Railways are not able to fast-track or push for dedicated lines for suburban trains, improve amenities at stations, modernise ticketing systems, and introduce air-conditioned coaches. Nevertheless, officers of the Chennai division went on an inspection recently. But the demands remain the same. Exclusive rakes for each route - As Southern Railway often uses the same rakes to run trains on the north and western lines, trains in one route often get delayed due to congestion in another line. This has forced commuters to seek exclusive rakes for each route. Railways is using a separate set of rakes for Beach-Tambaram route but not on the other two lines. For example, a train from Tiruvallur to Chennai is run on the Chennai to route and vice versa. Roy Rozario, who retired from railways, said “The rake link is yet to be revised for several years. Railways should operate trains with high frequency to Tiruvallur and to Gummidipoondi and then operate shuttle services for routes beyond. Running long trains all the way to Arakkonam and also terminating trains at Avadi is leading to delays.” He also said that as rake links are not revised, there is a gap of almost 30 minutes between two TiruvallurChennai trains in the morning. Terminating trains at Avadi too cause delays. In response to his petition, the railways said new rake links cannot be made because of shortage of rakes and constraints at platforms and terminals. Uniform number of coaches on all routes On Tuesday, a frantic announcement was heard being made repeatedly at Egmore railway station warning people that a mainline EMU train to will have only nine cars. However, at smaller stations where such announcements are quite rare people who wait at the farther end of the platform expecting a 12-car train are forced to run to board the last coach of the shorter nine-car train when railways use nine-car rakes and 12-car rakes without warning. It’s a hassle. because trains are often `drawn ahead’ or go up to the signal to stop irrespective of its length - a convenience when looked upon from the point of view of the motorman. But not for the commuters. Senior citizens and women cannot run and a few do miss trains, said T Sadagopan, a commuter. Roy Rozario, who has been demanding uniform rakes, said the railways should not change rake composition often because frequent commuters do not expect a nine car train where a 12 car train has been running. “This leads to confusion. Railways should have a uniform number of coaches for all services.” All stations to be manned by a railway staff People who board a midnight train to Arakkonam at Putlur railway station are often forced to go ticketless because the private-run ticket counter is not open round the clock. As a few small suburban stations on Chennai-Tiruvallur and Chennai-Gummidipoondi route do not have railway staff posted, commuters not only miss out on a chance to offer feedback to the railways but also are troubled. Suburban commuters have been petitioning railways to take over the ticket counters as the private-run counters are not linked to railway servers. K Baskar, a former member of divisional rail users consultative committee (DRUCC) said “Buying tickets is a hassle. There is no railway staff to assist if a crime takes place. Railways, however, considers these stations as low patronage stations.