CHENNAI: Southern Railway has come up with a slew of measures to cater to regular suburban train commuters on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram stretch who have faced hardships for over a week after train operations were reduced for redevelopment work at Egmore railway station. The measures include running fast local trains with 15 cars and operating special buses during peak hours. Railway ticket holders and season pass holders can travel free of cost on the 20 special peak-hour bus (MTC) services to be operated between 6.40 am and 9.40 am at seven-minute intervals towards Chennai Beach from Tambaram starting Saturday. In the return direction, the special buses will be operated from 5 pm to 8 pm. These bus services will have stoppages at MTC bus stops at Tambaram Sanitorium, Chromepet, Pallavaram, Tirusulam, Guindy, Ezhilagam, Secretariat and Parry’s Corner. Some of these buses would be operated via T Nagar, said Southern Railway officials. In addition, five 15-car trains will be operated on the fast line between Tambaram and Beach during peak hours. These trains will be operated in addition to the revised schedule and stopped at Mambalam, Guindy, and Egmore, covering the entire stretch in 60 minutes instead of regular 75-minute trips. These fast trains will be operated from Tambaram at 6.40 am, 7.10 am, 8.10 am, 8.55 am, and 9.15 am. In the return direction, they will start from Chennai Beach at 5.15 pm, 5.30 pm, 6.10 pm, 7.10 pm, and 8 pm. Also, to reduce congestion of EMUs on the fast line at Chennai Egmore during peak hours, the departure timing of Cholan Express (22675) from Chennai Egmore will be revised to 10.15 am starting Saturday. Nellai Express (12632) and Pothigai (12661) will be operated from Tambaram, with effect from Saturday. Train operations on the Chennai Beach–Tambaram–Chengalpet stretch were reduced from 204 to 164 and further reduced to 115 owing to redevelopment works at Egmore railway station, putting thousands of commuters to severe hardship. Southern Railway’s contingency plan to introduce shuttle services did not yield desired results, following which the officials came up with the latest initiatives.
