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Suburban obstruction commuters travelling betwixt Tambaram and Chennai Beach accidental they proceed to look unscheduled halts and delays during the greeting highest hours, contempt the commissioning of the dedicated 4th railway enactment for accelerated and explicit trains betwixt Chennai Egmore and Beach earlier this year.
Passengers from the confederate suburbs contend that the ₹274-crore project, which was expected to streamline bid operations and trim question time, has brought small alleviation to regular commuters.
Instead, they say, section trains are often detained aft Chetpet, arsenic accelerated and air-conditioned EMU services are diverted to the suburban corridor connected their mode to the Beach station.
Thousands of radical question regular from Chengalpattu and Tambaram to Chennai Beach connected regular EMU services that halt astatine each the stations.
Fast EMU services, which cater mostly to office-goers, run connected abstracted tracks and halt lone astatine prime stations specified arsenic Chromepet, Guindy, and Mambalam.
Delays persist
Commuters allege that aft reaching Chennai Egmore, accelerated and AC EMU services are routed done the suburban corridor to halt astatine Chennai Fort presumption earlier proceeding to the Beach. This often results successful section EMU services being detained betwixt Chetpet and Egmore.
“From Nungambakkam to Egmore, the travel sometimes takes astir 20 minutes,” Ramya, a assemblage student, said.
“Local trains are often held up betwixt Chetpet and Egmore,” said Jeeva, a regular commuter from Tambaram Sanatorium.
Edwin, different commuter, said the delays often unit passengers to question alternate transport. “On respective occasions, I had to instrumentality an autorickshaw to marque up for mislaid time,” helium said.
The fourth-line project, enactment connected which began successful September 2023, was commissioned successful March this twelvemonth to segregate suburban, freight, and long-distance bid operations. Commuters had expected the caller infrastructure to destruct bottlenecks and amended punctuality.
Fort presumption bottleneck
Railway sources said the diversion of accelerated and AC EMU services to the suburban corridor continues due to the fact that determination is nary level connected the 4th enactment astatine Chennai Fort station.
“Either a level should beryllium created astatine Fort presumption for the accelerated services oregon the trains should proceed straight to Beach,” said a angiosperm merchant from Tambaram who travels regular to the city.
A elder railway authoritative acknowledged that accelerated and AC EMU services indispensable beryllium diverted done the suburban corridor due to the fact that of the lack of a suitable level astatine Fort station. However, helium ruled retired the anticipation of skipping the halt astatine Fort station, arsenic a ample fig of authorities employees usage it.
The authoritative said plans to supply further infrastructure astatine Fort presumption had been delayed owed to difficulties successful acquiring a tiny parcel of land, required for the project, from the Reserve Bank of India. Once the contented is resolved, operational bottlenecks could beryllium addressed, helium added.
The contented is astir acute betwixt 8.30 a.m. and 10 a.m., 1 of the busiest periods for suburban obstruction travel. While galore commuters person shifted to Metro Rail and different modes of transport, EMU services stay the astir affordable enactment for thousands travelling from the confederate suburbs to the city.
Commuters accidental they invited Railways’ modernisation initiatives, but privation issues affecting regular EMU users resolved astatine the earliest.
