Lack of battery cars puts senior citizens in distress
CHENNAI: Senior citizens and differently-abled people have a very tough time commuting along long platforms in Tambaram suburban station for years now. Repeated requests to Southern Railways to provide battery car facilities to ferry people still remains unheard, said frustrated residents. It is the third-most important terminal in Chennai, trains from Tambaram station transport around three crore passengers and sees a daily footfall of 75,000 people. Most find it very difficult to walk for a distance of 500-700 metres to reach the exit from platforms 5,6,7 and 8.
A year ago, Southern Railways’ Women Welfare Organisation had donated two battery-operated vehicles at Tambaram station. Due to lack of maintenance, this service was used only for a few months. After that these vehicles were left neglected at the station. A Sathik Basha, a resident of Medavakkam has been fighting for this issue from July 2019 after he saw senior citizens struggling to commute inside the station.“Trains like Vaigai and Pallavan Express have more than 20 coaches and halt very far away from exit. People struggle to walk such long lengths while carrying heavy luggage. Porters exploit senior citizens by charging Rs 450 to ferry them till exit,” said Sathik, who has reached out to MLA, MP of South Chennai and to top officials in Southern Railways regarding this issue.
According to railway norms, stations where express trains halt and those that have platforms more than 500 metres must have battery cars. Similarly, regular passengers who commute from Mambalam suburban station too face the same struggle. Two to three express trains halt here. Also, Mambalam station is used by more than one crore passengers.
“Many senior citizens who are unable to walk don’t use foot over bridge. They wait for a train to halt and walk through it to reach the other platform. Railways can consider providing smaller electric vehicles that can be driven along narrow platforms,” said 80-year-old T S Thyagarajan, a regular commuter.
A senior official from Southern Railways said that work is under progress to implement proposals to make Tamabaram station more comfortable for passengers. “Around 10 lifts, new escalators and battery cars will be soon installed at Tambaram station. The DRM is aware of problems and a solution will be provided. We will inform him about Mambalam station’s problems too.”