Former Chief Minister C N Annadurai said 50 years ago, “Vadakku vazhgirathu, therku theiygirathu” (North is shining, South is weaning) to emphasise that North Indian states were witnessing phenomenal growth, while the South was experiencing gloom. But for residents of North Chennai, the saying appears to be inverse, and this is readily demonstrated by the ‘first class’ coaches in Electric Multiple Units (EMUs).
A section of train commuters allege that the first class coaches plying on the Moore Market Complex (MMC), Arakkonam and Gummidipoondi sections are smaller compared to the suburban rakes operating on the Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu section in South Chennai.
“We have to travel by trash-filled first class coaches, but travellers in South Chennai enjoy better rakes,” Kumaresan, a regular commuter working at Ambattur said.
Passengers also complain that some railway employees who do not hold first class passes travel in first class coaches, causing congestion. Telecommunications engineer Manavalan from Minjur rues that he is forced to travel standing quite often and wonders why he should pay excess fare to suffer the inconvenience.
“At times, I have picked up quarrels with these railway employees who misuse their privileges. You may not witness such scenes in EMUs plying on Beach-Tambaram section,” he observes. Moreover, an EMU train on Gummidipoondi section has only two first class coaches, whereas “the Tambaram trains have three first class compartments,” he claims.
Southern Railway operates 25 services between Chennai and Gummidipoondi section everyday, while 13 EMU services from MMC are available to Sulurpetta and Nellore in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. On the other hand, 92 services are running on Chennai-Arakkonam section with a chunk of EMUs plying between MMC-Thiruvallur and Arakkonam-Avadi.
Stressing that such differences amount to discrimination, Venugopal, a commuter from Villivakkam, has approached the consumer court seeking redressal. According to him, only a 24-seat first class coach is given for EMU trains on Arakkonam and Gummidipoondi sections, while 36-seat first class compartments are given for Beach- Tambaram passengers.
“Why should the railways discriminate when we also pay the same fare? Though I have taken up the issue with the railways authorities several times, our grievances have not been addressed,” he said.
Despite repeated attempts by City Express to reach Southern Railway officials, they were not available for comment.