CHENNAI: To improve the safety of trains and reduce the detention of express trains in fast lines between Thirunindravur and Avadi, the Chennai railway division is planning to short-terminate the Chennai-Pattabiram Military Siding (PTMS) EMU trains at the Pattabiram station.
The move was first proposed a year ago by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), who inquired into the accident that took place in November 2016, in which an EMU train hit the locomotive of an express train at the Pattabiram station. The EMU locals in the Chennai-Pattaibiram-Tiruvallur-Arakkonam section operated in slow line (first track). From the Pattabiram station, the trains had to cross three tracks to enter into the fifth line to go to the Pattabiram Military Siding station which is located about 2.2 km away in the northeastern direction.
Pointing out that the EMU local operations increase the risk of accidents, the CRS recommended to short-terminate the trains at Pattabiram.
Though the proposal has been pending for more than a year, it has caught the officials’ attention recently who are on their toes to improve the punctuality of trains. When EMUs get diverted to PTMS, at least 25 express and fast EMU locals suffer a detention of 15 to 20 minutes in the Thirunindravur-Pattabiram-Avadi section in both directions. “The EMUs either will be short-terminated at Pattabiram or may get extended upto Thiruvallur. The final decision is yet to be taken,” said a senior railway official.
Presently, the Chennai division operates 18 pairs of trains between Chennai Moore Market Complex (MMC) and Pattabiram Military Siding a day. “A shuttle service from PTMS to Pattabiram is also planned for every 30 minutes. The trains will be brought up to 4th line of the Pattabiram station, from where passengers have to move to platform No. 1 or 2 to board the local trains,” added the railway official.
Chennai railway division executes Train safety improvement works
Chennai: In order to improve safety, the Chennai railway division has taken a slew of measures, including replacement of wooden layouts on tracks, complete track renewal at points, replacement of rails, and deep screening and inspection of tracks using automated system. According to an official statement, a complete track renewal (CTR) for 8.9 km has been done manually across division. “Along with that, high quality rails (60 kg per metre) have been laid for 6.7 km and improved for 9.5 km by means of sleeper renewal,” said the statement. Tracks have also been renewed at three places - two in the Chennai Egmore station yard and one in Tiruvallur, for smooth shunting of trains.
To improve the smooth operation of trains, about 8.4-km tracks have been screened with ballast cleaning machines in the Chennai-Gudur and Chennai-Arakkonam sections. The works involve removal of dust and soil from the track, enabling the trains to move at faster speed. To strengthen the track formation, the Moorum blanketing for nearly 0.4 km was done between the Athipattu and Minjur stations in the Chennai-Gudur section. As for other track works, 645 number of welds on track were attended in May and 417-km tracks tested using the Ultrasonic Flaw Detector (USFD). In addition, for safety of trains in the Arakkonam-Renigunta section, inter-locking works were completed at five level-crossing gates, said the statement. The division also achieved an earning of `289.50 crore in May.