Chennai: In a much-needed relief to thousands of daily commuters, Southern Railway is set to restore suburban train operations on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram suburban line from April 5, following the completion of key foundation work for redevelopment of Egmore railway station.The railways completed work near platforms 10 and 11 within the scheduled 45-day traffic block from Feb 20 to April 5 through round-the-clock effort. “From April 5, the suburban trains will stop and go from platforms 10 and 11,” said an official.Railway officials said that more than 600 personnel were deployed in shifts, supported by earth movers, piling rigs, cranes and concrete mixers. Key work included foundations for foot overbridges, a 72-metre departure concourse, and a 25-metre through-roof structure.Railways reduced the frequency of suburban trains and changed the platforms for alighting and boarding to platforms 5 and 6 citing the foundation work, putting commuters solely dependent on suburban trains to hardships. Railways later operated specials, fast locals and special buses through MTC to cater to the affected passengers.Viswanathan of Chitlapakkam welcomed the railways’ decision to resume suburban train operations. “Suburban trains are the lifeline of Chennai city and railways should have a better plan when it has to do anything with their operation in future,” he said.
