CHENNAI: After an inordinate delay, Southern Railway has commenced the operation of two trains in the circular route in Chennai suburban network, covering 213 km. With this, Chennai division becomes the first in Southern Railway to have fully electrified lines.
Suburban trains in the new circular route will start at Chennai Beach (0 km) and go via Tambaram (28.6 km), Chengalpattu (59.6 km), Kancheepuram (95.6 km), Arakkonam (123.5 km), Tiruvallur (162.3 km) and Perambur (198.2 km) and return to Chennai Beach. The trains will cover 213 km in electrified lines without any loco reversal.
The new circular trains will reduce by 15 to 20 minutes, the travel time for those passengers travelling from Chengalpattu and south suburban areas to Tiruvallur, Pattabiram and neighbouring stations and vice versa.
“So far, if we had to travel to Tiruvallur from Singaperumalkoil, we get down at Arakkonam and take a new train. Now there will be no hassle of changing the trains after walking through lengthy platforms,” said R Krishnan of Chengalpattu who travelled in the circular special train on Tuesday.
According to an official statement, the Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) special will leave Chennai Beach at 10.30 am and arrive at Arakkonam at 12.30 pm, Tirumalpur at 1.15 pm, Kancheepuram at 1.30 pm, Chengalpattu at 2.15/2.25 pm, Tambaram at 3.15 pm and return to Beach at 4.10 pm. Similarly, an EMU service which leaves Beach at 9.50 am, will return to the same station at 3.15 pm. Enroute, it is scheduled to stop at Tambaram at 10.15am, Chengalpattu at 11.35pm, Kancheepuram at 12.25pm, Tirumalpur at 1 pm and Arakkonam at 2 pm. The circular route came into existence with the linking of the southwestern suburban route (Chennai Beach - Chengalpattu) with northwestern suburban section (Chennai Beach/Central - Arakkonam) via Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram.
The electrification of the Kancheepuram - Arakkonam section, which has been delayed for nearly a decade for various reasons, was completed two months ago. The 9.5 km Thakkolam - Arakkonam detour line was thrown open for traffic a few days ago.
With the introduction of the two new services, two passenger specials - Chennai Beach-Arakkonam and Chennai Beach-Tirumalpur trains, have been cancelled, said the railway statement.
“When more train services are introduced connecting Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu, we expect that 2,000 to 5,000 passengers’ handling at Central Suburban terminus and Park station, may come down,” said a senior railway official.