CHENNAI: The Government General Hospital bus stop on EVR Periyar Salai, opposite Central station, witnessed a spike in commuters on Monday, marking the first day of termination of MRTS services at Chintadripet. Due to inadequate bus services, a large number of commuters were seen travelling to Chintadripet on footboard of buses till Omandurar bus stop.
The heavy inflow was the result of commuters from the north-West (Chenani - Arakkonam) and north-east (Chennai - Gummidipundi) suburban areas opting to reach Chintadripet via Chennai Central instead of taking buses from Beach.
“I prefer to take the Central local train to Chintadripet instead of going via Chennai Beach as the travel time is shorter and the availability of buses from Chennai Beach is limited. The government should introduce shuttle service from Central Station to Chintadripet,” said R Ramchandran, a commuter from Perambur.
To provide shuttle service for train passengers, MTC had announced adding 140 additional bus services to Vallalar Nagar via Chintadripet, Central and Chennai Beach. However, commuters complain that the bus services from Central to Chintadripet are not sufficient, especially during peak hours. “In addition to 140 services, we will be adding more buses from Central to Chintadripet from Tuesday onwards,” said A Anbu Abraham, Managing Director, MTC.
A few days back, the southern railway had announced suspension of MRTS services between beach and Chintadripet to facilitate construction of a fourth line on the Chennai Beach - Egmore section. The daily footfall on the Beach - Velachery MRTS service was 1.2 lakh passengers, with 60-70% of them originating from Chennai - Arakkonam and Chennai - Gummidipundi suburban sections. These commuters switch to Velachery-bound MRTS trains at Chennai Beach. On Monday, all these passengers opted to board suburban trains bound to Central instead of Chennai Beach.
“Traveling directly from Perambur to Velachery by bus would take more than 90 minutes during peak traffic. The number of train services from Chintadripet has been reduced from 124 to 80. The railways should increase the frequency of services,” said another commuter S Mukesh from Aynavaram. The spokesperson of Chennai railway division said they will look into the demand to increase the service. Meanwhile, the railway commenced dismantling of tracks between Chennai Port and Park Town stations marking the commencement of work on the section.