Direct train services between Arakkonam and Velachery to end
Siddharth Prabhakar | TNN | Updated: Nov 29, 2017, 09:49 IST
CHENNAI: There's some good news and bad news for commuters of the Chennai-Arakkonam suburban trains. Southern Railway will soon operate 12-car EMU trains on the section, replacing the ninecar rakes currently in operation. This will ease peak hour congestion in the hugely patronised trains on this route.
So what's the bad news? Once this happens, the 51 services operated as cross sectoral services from this section to Velachery on the MRTS section will have to be stopped.
This is because platforms on the Chennai Beach-Velachery MRTS section long enough only to support a nine-car EMU rake.
Cross-sectoral services were introduced by the Chennai division in July last year. Earlier, commuters from western suburbs like Avadi, Pattabiram and Arakkonam, who had to travel on the MRTS section had to get down at Chennai Beach station and board a connecting train. This was particularly difficult for office-goers and senior citizens.
Cross-sectoral services simplified this by ensuring that the same train from the western suburbs ran till Velachery, eliminating the need to get down at Beach. Around 15,000 commuters use the cross-sectoral services everyday, railway officials said.
Top sources in Southern Railway said the closure of cross-sectoral services was inevitable given that they needed to maintain operational consistency. The zone operates 12-car rakes on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpet section.
Sources said one 12-car rake had reached the Annanur shed on October 30. The EMU rakes currently use alternating current (AC) and convert it into direct current to power the motors. However, the new rakes will take single phase AC and convert it into three phase AC.
Five more 12-car rakes will be shortly received by the shed, sources said. Totally, the Arakkonam section has 36 nine-car rakes which will be converted to 12-car rakes, sources added. Induction of the 12-car rakes is delayed because four platforms on the section are yet to be lengthened. However, only patch-work is remaining and it would be completed soon, a senior official said.
Siddharth Prabhakar | TNN | Updated: Nov 29, 2017, 09:49 IST
CHENNAI: There's some good news and bad news for commuters of the Chennai-Arakkonam suburban trains. Southern Railway will soon operate 12-car EMU trains on the section, replacing the ninecar rakes currently in operation. This will ease peak hour congestion in the hugely patronised trains on this route.
So what's the bad news? Once this happens, the 51 services operated as cross sectoral services from this section to Velachery on the MRTS section will have to be stopped.
This is because platforms on the Chennai Beach-Velachery MRTS section long enough only to support a nine-car EMU rake.
Cross-sectoral services were introduced by the Chennai division in July last year. Earlier, commuters from western suburbs like Avadi, Pattabiram and Arakkonam, who had to travel on the MRTS section had to get down at Chennai Beach station and board a connecting train. This was particularly difficult for office-goers and senior citizens.
Cross-sectoral services simplified this by ensuring that the same train from the western suburbs ran till Velachery, eliminating the need to get down at Beach. Around 15,000 commuters use the cross-sectoral services everyday, railway officials said.
Top sources in Southern Railway said the closure of cross-sectoral services was inevitable given that they needed to maintain operational consistency. The zone operates 12-car rakes on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpet section.
Sources said one 12-car rake had reached the Annanur shed on October 30. The EMU rakes currently use alternating current (AC) and convert it into direct current to power the motors. However, the new rakes will take single phase AC and convert it into three phase AC.
Five more 12-car rakes will be shortly received by the shed, sources said. Totally, the Arakkonam section has 36 nine-car rakes which will be converted to 12-car rakes, sources added. Induction of the 12-car rakes is delayed because four platforms on the section are yet to be lengthened. However, only patch-work is remaining and it would be completed soon, a senior official said.
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