CHENNAI: As part of measures to deter the footboard travelling on suburban trains, the Southern Railway has removed three handholds at the first row at the entrance of all suburban trains operated in the Chennai Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu and Chennai-Arakkonam sections.
Each coach has 10 handholds fitted in each of three grab rails between two entrances. The handholds allow the passengers to travel comfortably as the local trains have a higher vibration than regular passenger trains.
“Three handholds in the first row at the entrance of all coaches have been removed in suburban trains maintained at Tambaram and Avadi car sheds in the Chennai division,” a senior railway official told Express.
The move is mainly aimed at preventing the passengers from travelling on footboard. During rush hours at least 15 to 20 passengers occupy the footboard. Particularly, in the Chengalpattu-Chennai section, rail passengers hang on the footboard in all fast trains.
A few electrical multiple unit (EMU) train coaches operated in Mumbai suburban areas have three grab poles at the entrance of the trains while a majority of Chennai trains have only one grab pole.
“Since the first row has been removed, passengers near the footboard have to push themselves inside the coaches which get overcrowded. This will ensure that passengers do not stick out their limbs during rush-hour travel,” added the official.
A 12-car EMU train is made of four units while one unit has three coaches consisting of one motor coach and two trailer coaches.
The motor coaches have four bi-parting doors while trailer coaches have six doors. The handholds provide safety for train passengers as the EMU trains maintain higher acceleration and deceleration speed while operation.
A few rail passengers have expressed displeasure over the move as they say they cannot enter into the train during rush hour owing to difficulties in grabbing hold of the handholds.
R Krishna of Maraimalainagar, a rail regular commuter, said that during rush hour, a Beach-bound train gets crowded at Chengalpattu itself and all coaches are filled up when it arrives at and Urapakkam.
“Many of us could not enter into the train ever since the hand grab was removed,” he added.
In July this year, seven passengers travelled in the footboard of an overcrowded train were killed after hitting a concrete fence at the border of platform 3 and 4 at the St. Thomas Mount station.
About 11 lakh passengers are served in four suburban sections a day in Chennai.
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