CHENNAI: Thousands of suburban train passengers in Chennai endured severe hardship on Friday as a massive reduction in electric train services came into effect, coupled with signal failures on the first day of major maintenance work at Egmore railway station.
The maintenance work, which began on Friday ( February 20) and will continue until midnight on April 5, has forced the railway administration to drastically cut the number of trains operating on key suburban routes. Officials have appealed to passengers to bear with the inconvenience for the 45-day period.
According to railway officials, the number of electric trains plying on the affected routes has been slashed to just 164 per day. Services have been reduced on the Tambaram-Chengalpattu-Kanchipuram-Tirumalpur-Arakkonam section and the Tambaram-Chennai Beach section.
Compounding the situation, train services on the Tambaram-Chennai Beach route were disrupted for several hours on Friday morning due to signal issues related to the shifting of platforms at Egmore. Electric trains that normally arrived and departed from platforms 10 and 11 have been moved to platforms 5 and 6 for the duration of the maintenance. The signal snag, which was rectified around 9 AM, left trains stranded on the tracks for long periods, forcing many passengers to disembark and walk to the nearest stations or roads to find alternative transport.
With services reduced to approximately one train every 30 minutes on some sections, stations like Tambaram, Chromepet, Pallavaram, and Guindy witnessed massive crowds. The situation was worsened by the fact that Friday is not only a working day but also an auspicious "Subha Muhurtham" day for weddings, adding to the number of travelers.
Overcrowding was so severe that passengers, desperate to board trains after long waits, ignored designated compartments. Women's coaches and first-class compartments were overrun by the general public, leaving women and valid ticket holders struggling. Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel were seen struggling to manage the unruly crowds.
To mitigate the commuters' distress, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) had announced the operation of additional buses on routes like Broadway-Tambaram, Tambaram-Chengalpattu, and Pallavaram-Chengalpattu from Thursday until April 5.
However, passengers allege that these additional buses have not been deployed. They further complain that the MTC has reduced the number of ordinary and free "White Board" buses for women, while increasing the number of Deluxe buses that charge higher fares. This has disproportionately affected women commuters, who rely heavily on the free bus scheme.
"They haven't run the extra buses they promised. The ordinary buses are missing, and only expensive Deluxe buses are plying on many routes. Women are struggling to travel," a commuter at Tambaram station said.
When contacted, MTC officials denied reducing bus services. They attributed the shortage to an unusually high number of passengers, including many women traveling for the auspicious day, which overwhelmed the system. They claimed that no buses have been cut and that they are taking steps to deploy additional women's special buses on routes with high demand. However, passengers remain skeptical, pointing to a possible shortage of crew due to staff taking leave on the festive day, a claim the transport department denies, stating that alternative staff are being used.