In a complaint to the Divisional Railway Manager, Chennai Division, the association said that commuters were left without timely information on train movements, causing confusion and inconvenience.

An empty EMU rake remained at Platform 6 without any announcement on when it would leave for Beach station, leaving passengers unsure whether to board or wait. A suburban train from Tiruttani was detained at the home signal before being received on Platform 8, again without explanation. Trains bound for Beach and Central stations were stationed on different platforms, but passengers were not told which would depart first.

“People kept waiting without any clarity,” said S Murugaiyan, president, TRPWA. “Some of the staff could speak only in Hindi and could not communicate in Tamil or English. Passengers were unable to get even basic information about train movements. This prompted us to seek multilingual announcements and passenger guidance in Tamil, English and Hindi.”

He alleged that the confusion led to arguments among passengers, following which personnel from Railway Protection Force dispersed the gathering. “Many passengers were afraid to question officials because they feared cases would be booked against them,” he opined.

The association also questioned the use of recently upgraded infrastructure at the station. Though the remodelling and extension of Platform 5 was completed over a month ago, unreserved coaches of the Blue Mountain Express and Cheran Express, including the S7 coach, continued to halt beyond the platform limits, making boarding difficult.

Noting that Arakkonam Junction handles thousands of passengers daily, the association urged Southern Railway for immediate intervention to strengthen passenger information systems and operational management at the station.