Inadequate services force commuters to travel on footboard
Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com 25.07.2018
One commuter slips to death from the footboard of an overcrowded suburban train in Chennai and neighbouring Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts every fifth day. Those who are lucky survive, but lose a limb or worse. Every day, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) fines 22 people for footboard travel.
After the Tamil Nadu government raised bus fares in January, there has been an average increase of 10 lakh unreserved passengers in the Chennai division. But these have not been enough to convince Southern Railway officials to increase the number of suburban train services.
Commuters, in coaches packed to the rafters, risk their lives every weekday to make the most of the few services on the Chennai-Chengalpet-Tirumalpur line. Nothing lays bare more their helplessness than the fact that even after six commuters died on Tuesday morning while on the footboard at the St Thomas Mount station, trains bursting at the seams — with commuters and their bags dangling — sped past the same spot. The 739 awareness campaigns conducted by the RPF in 2018 against footboarding had no effect because commuters whose salaries are on the line, or students who can barely afford share autos or cabs, have no other option but travel worse than “cattle class”.
Railway officials though pin the blame on the commuters. “It is their mistake if they are footboarding. They should avoid it,” is the refrain.
Urbanisation beyond Tambaram and proliferation of IT companies near Chengalpet keep the suburban trains overcrowded during peak hours on the Chennai-Chengalpet-Tirumalpur line. “Even middle-aged women dangle from the trains,” said N Karthik, a regular commuter from Mambalam to Vandalur. Commuters said the solution lay in more services. But even if the railway wants to do so till Chengalpet, it cannot.
At present, there are two dedicated lines for suburban trains from Beach to Tambaram, but from there on there are only two tracks which accommodate suburban, freight and express trains. The railway board had sanctioned a project to lay a third line between Tambaram and Chengalpet in 2015, but it is moving at snail’s pace due to land acquisition issues which the state government has done precious little to resolve. Laying a fourth line will help railways double the number of suburban services, but the agency wants the Tamil Nadu government to partner for the fourth line for which there has been no response, said officials.
Railway officials said the current arrangement suited them as running more trains would give additional headache on maintaining punctuality, which they are currently struggling with. The step-motherly treatment towards suburban network is also because it is a loss making venture recovering only 50% of its costs.
Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com 25.07.2018
One commuter slips to death from the footboard of an overcrowded suburban train in Chennai and neighbouring Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts every fifth day. Those who are lucky survive, but lose a limb or worse. Every day, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) fines 22 people for footboard travel.
After the Tamil Nadu government raised bus fares in January, there has been an average increase of 10 lakh unreserved passengers in the Chennai division. But these have not been enough to convince Southern Railway officials to increase the number of suburban train services.
Commuters, in coaches packed to the rafters, risk their lives every weekday to make the most of the few services on the Chennai-Chengalpet-Tirumalpur line. Nothing lays bare more their helplessness than the fact that even after six commuters died on Tuesday morning while on the footboard at the St Thomas Mount station, trains bursting at the seams — with commuters and their bags dangling — sped past the same spot. The 739 awareness campaigns conducted by the RPF in 2018 against footboarding had no effect because commuters whose salaries are on the line, or students who can barely afford share autos or cabs, have no other option but travel worse than “cattle class”.
Railway officials though pin the blame on the commuters. “It is their mistake if they are footboarding. They should avoid it,” is the refrain.
Urbanisation beyond Tambaram and proliferation of IT companies near Chengalpet keep the suburban trains overcrowded during peak hours on the Chennai-Chengalpet-Tirumalpur line. “Even middle-aged women dangle from the trains,” said N Karthik, a regular commuter from Mambalam to Vandalur. Commuters said the solution lay in more services. But even if the railway wants to do so till Chengalpet, it cannot.
At present, there are two dedicated lines for suburban trains from Beach to Tambaram, but from there on there are only two tracks which accommodate suburban, freight and express trains. The railway board had sanctioned a project to lay a third line between Tambaram and Chengalpet in 2015, but it is moving at snail’s pace due to land acquisition issues which the state government has done precious little to resolve. Laying a fourth line will help railways double the number of suburban services, but the agency wants the Tamil Nadu government to partner for the fourth line for which there has been no response, said officials.
Railway officials said the current arrangement suited them as running more trains would give additional headache on maintaining punctuality, which they are currently struggling with. The step-motherly treatment towards suburban network is also because it is a loss making venture recovering only 50% of its costs.
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