Travelling on the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) used to be breezy for the commuters but for the past one week they have to endure inordinate delays in train services. And noisy crowds of protesters travelling in groups to the Marina.
Office-goers, who until last week were able to travel peacefully on the stretch, now find the railway stations on the MRTS stretch mobbed by peaceful protesters fighting for jallikattu.
As there are a couple of MRTS stations adjacent to the Marina beach, many of those joining the protests are taking the MRTS route.
R. Mohanakrishnan, a regular commuter from Perungudi, said with the roads clogged with traffic, the regular office-goers thought it safe to travel on the elevated section but are faced with delay in operations.
During the first few days, the crowd looked decent and peaceful but gradually had become vociferous and hurling abuses on politicians, he said, claiming that some of the groups of protesters were even unruly.
A ticket checker on the MRTS section said while the Southern Railway has added more ticket counters at some of the railway stations but more than 50% of the commuters on the MRTS last week travelled without tickets.