TIRUPATTUR: Regular commuters urged the Southern Railways to stop major trains for Chennai, Bengaluru and other places at Tirupattur Junction.
At present, only three train services towards Vellore and Chennai MGR Central stop at Tirupattur. While most trains stop at Jolarpettai Junction, commuters-- ranging from traders, students, government and bank staff-- have to take buses or other forms of transport for the last-mile connectivity, which increases the travel expense and time to reach their destination.
It takes half-an-hour to reach Tirupattur from Jolarpettai and we can't find buses or auto rickshaws on time, A Devaraj, President of Tirupathur Chamber of Commerce, told TNIE. "Around 10,000 traders work in Tirupattur and surrounding areas. There are shoe factories, small industries and other commercial establishments here. Thousands rely on trains for transportation," he added.
While Tirupattur has been made the district headquarters, it doesn't have adequate infrastructure, and transport is one of the most important needs of locals, said R Dheivigasigamani, Tirupattur Grocery Traders Union President. He explained the region lacks industries but adding a train stoppage would bring industrial development to the area. It may be noted Tirupattur was carved out from the Vellore district in 2019.
Apart from traders, private firm employees and residents of 300 villages surrounding Tirupattur travel mostly to Chennai and Bengaluru for work. Senior citizens and patients need to rush to Jolarpettai to get medical care at Government Vellore Medical College Hospital (GVMCH) and Christian Medical College Hospital (CMC).
While pointing out that West Coast Express is a day-time train, residents demand more day-time trains to Chennai. They also demand the Southern Railways stop trains at Tirupattur for Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore and Kerala. The locals also request the SR to stop trains from/towards Bengaluru, Southern Tamil Nadu and North India in the day and night time. Their other demands include: expanding and upgrading platforms.
Responding to this, a Southern Railway official said, train stoppage will be studied on a case-to-case basis, and forwarded to the Railway board with recommendations.
Meanwhile, a Chennai Divisional Railway Manager recently inspected the Jolarpettai Junction along with senior officials. He then said that Arakkonam - Bengaluru passenger train services will be resumed soon, without specifying a time. On inquiry, officials said, "We have resumed 96% of mail/express trains, and more than 50% of passenger trains run during the pre-Covid periods."