CHENNAI: The new railway time-table, which comes into effect from August 15, has disappointed passengers as the Southern Railway has neither introduced any new trains nor reduced the travel time of trains. The travel time in the 495-km Chennai Egmore and Madurai section, which became a fully electrified double line six months ago, remains above eight hours and ten minutes for all trains except Vaigai Express. The Villupuram-Madurai section double lines have been developed at the cost of `1200 crore. Besides reducing the travel time of weekly trains including Nagercoil- Mumbai CSMT biweekly express by 60 minutes, the Tambaram-Tirunelveli Antyodaya Express is speeded up by 60 minutes.
According to the new time-table, the Cuddalore-Vriddhachalam passenger train is extended to Tiruppadirippuliyur, while the Nagore-Tiruchchirappalli passenger trains will run upto Karaikkal. Similarly, the Palakkad-Punalur Palaruvi Express is extended to Tirunelveli, while the Kollam-Edamann passenger train will run upto Shengottai.
Travel time of 10 daily express trains including the Chennai Central-Coimbatore Shatabdi Express, Chennai Central-Alleppey Express and Pandiyan Express is reduced by 5 to 15 minutes. The departure time of about 25 trains from Chennai Egmore and Central stations has changed by 5 to 30 minutes.
While the Southern Railways officials have repeatedly informed that new trains from Tambaram to Nagercoil and Tambaram to Kollam are being proposed, the time-table having no such trains has disappointed the rail passengers J Soosairaj, president, Tamil Nadu Southern Districts Train Passengers Association termed the time-table as a testimony to the step-motherly treatment meted out to Kanniyakumari district. “We have been assured that a triweekly Express is proposed to Nagercoil. However nothing has happened. We have to rely on bus services to travel for about 700 km,” he said.
K Baskar, member, Divisional Rail Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC), Chennai, said the reduction of travel time by five minutes is negligible. “The Southern Railway operates trains at the same travel time as that of single lines in double tracks between Chennai and Madurai. It only exhibits Railways’ poor efficiency and lack of planning,” he charged. Railway sources said the travel time of trains was not reduced mainly due to the proposed 4- hour corridor block a day for track maintenance. “We are planning a few changes in the time-table in a few months,” said an officer.