CHENNAI: Plans and routines of thousands of commuters went for a toss on Monday as train services were completely suspended from 10 am to 1.30 pm between Pallavaram and Guduvancheri to facilitate terminal work at Tambaram railway station.
Although the railways operated special trains from Chennai Beach to Pallavaram, these services operated with a gap of about 30 to 45 minutes. Similarly, trains from Guduvancheri to Chengalpattu operated at intervals of 60 to 90 minutes.
As a result, stations like Park, Chennai Egmore, Nungambakkam, Guindy, and St Thomas Mount witnessed large crowds throughout the day. Since the train services were only available up to Pallavaram, MTC buses from Pallavaram, Chrompet, and Tambaram also saw a huge influx of passengers.
According to official MTC sources, as many as 60 buses usually make 570 trips in the Pallavaram-Guduvancheri section. To accommodate the increased number of travellers on Monday, 50 special buses were deployed from the Airport Metro station to Chengalpattu. Additionally, shuttle services were provided from Pallavaram railway station to Pallavaram bus stand, as well as between Guduvancheri railway station and bus stand.
Despite these special services, bus stands remained crowded, with hundreds of commuters waiting over 90 minutes for connecting buses. Meanwhile, Tambaram-bound buses from Broadway, Guindy, and other areas were also overcrowded.
MTC officials stated that additional services will be added depending on demand. The Chennai Beach-Chengalpattu section carries about 5.5 lakh commuters with 256 services daily. Of these, 55 services were cancelled from July 31 to August 14 for the Tambaram yard remodelling work.