Work on rail lines: Suburban commuters to face hardships

Chennai: Travelling for work by suburban trains on the Tiruvallur section is going to be a hassle for commuters on Monday as railways has introduced restrictions on a few services to facilitate engineering works for commissioning the 5th & 6th railway lines between Chennai Central and Basin Bridge stations.
Four early morning trains, scheduled to leave Moore Market Complex railway station on Monday, will depart from Beach station.These include MMC-Avadi train at 12.15am, MMC-Tiruvallur train at 3.40am, MMC-Tiruttani train at 4am and MMC-Pattabiram Military Siding train at 4.15am. An incoming train from Pattabhiram Military Siding and Avadi will be diverted to Beach.
The changes in the trains has hit a large number of people who travel out of the city for work early. Railways had shut down services to MMC on Saturday and Sunday. There was a huge rush at Beach station to where services where shifted. However, the work had disrupted suburban services last week.
Railway staff at stations from Tiruvallur to Chennai had been guiding commuters to board express trains when they are detained briefly because of congestion of the line in the past few days. As the work on laying two new lines and to electrify them are progressing, suburban and express trains have been getting delayed.
Several suburban commuters had been complaining of delays at Nemilicherry, Annanur, Avadi and other stations. "The trains are delayed during peak hours. This increases the rush. We are not able to board the trains," said Vaidyanathan, a frequent commuter.
A railway official said the inconvenience caused due to delays and disruptions would be temporary. "The two new lines will eliminate delays of suburban trains on Tiruvallur route as they do not have to cross the tracks used by express trains to reach MMC. Two dedicated lines from Basin Bridge will be available for the services to reach the suburban railway station," he added. The delays are expected to continue for a few more days. Railway engineers on Monday carried out electrification and track work between a road overbridge on the outer of central railway station and the MMC. Two lines which was used to backing goods trains that arrived at Salt Cotours are being re-laid for suburban trains.