CHENNAI: Rail passengers in the western suburban section of Chennai, who face hardship in attending nature’s call due to lack of toilet facilities while travelling in EMU local trains, will get relief soon. The Southern Railway has decided to introduce two Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) trains between Chennai Beach and Avadi sections, with attached bio-toilets.Recently, the Chennai division of the Southern Railway has received two rakes of MEMU trains, each with nine coaches. A rake comprises three units -- each having one motor coach and two trailer coaches. The seating capacity of motor coach is 76, while that of trailer coach is 108.
“Compared to the conventional Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) trains, the MEMU trains can accelerate faster and run at a pace of 105 kmph. The trains are also preferred as every coach has toilets,” said a senior railway official.The two MEMU rakes received from Kapurthala are being commissioned at the Avadi car shed.”The electrical fittings and bio-toilets are commissioned in the coaches. After completing due procedures, two rakes will be initially put into operation between Avadi and Chennai Beach. Later they may get extended to Chengalpattu or Kancheepuram,” the official added.
The MEMU trains are expected to provide huge relief to thousands of elderly rail commuters, patients and women who travel in suburban trains. Currently, the Chennai division caters to more than 10 lakh passengers with 545 EMU and MEMU train services. Passengers travel for 10 minutes to 2.5 hours in suburban trains. MEMU trains are operated in the Vellore Cantonment-Beach-Thirumalpur, Chennai-Tirupati, Chennai-Tiruvallur and Chennai-Gummidipoondi sections. They have no toilet facilities.
According to official railway records, before January 2018, about 3.92 lakh passengers are carried by 151 train services in the Chennai-Arakkonam section a day, while 224 train services cater for 5.55 lakh passengers in the Chennai Beach-Chengalpattu section. With 74 services, about 1.2 lakh passengers are carried a day and with 96 services of Mass Rapid Transit System, about 1.01 lakh passengers are served.
In 2005, the Railway Board took a policy decision to replace all passenger trains with MEMU and Diesel Electrical Multiple Unit (DEMU) coaches. The board approved building of coaches with attached toilets in 2013.
While a few DEMU and MEMU trains with toilets have already been introduced in Kerala, MEMU rakes with attached toilets are yet to be introduced in Tamil Nadu. In 2015, a DEMU train was introduced in the Salem-Vriddhachalam section with toilet facility.The Southern Railway holds 155 MEMU coaches, out of which 39 are motor coaches and 116 trailer coaches. These coaches are maintained at Palakkad and Kollam.