Commuters irked over fourth line affecting frequency of MRTS, suburban train services

The fourth line project commissioned by Southern Railway between the Beach and Egmore stations has become functional, easing long-distance train traffic congestion in the city. However, commuters who travel regularly by suburban and Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) trains are far from happy.

Previously, there were only three tracks between the four stations from the Beach to Egmore stations, causing severe constraints for the operation of long-distance mail and express trains. Freight trains to the Chennai port and Kamarajar port in Kattupalli also faced constraints as two tracks were being used for suburban train services operated from the Beach station to Tambaram and Chengalpattu stations.

The fourth line has given the flexibility to operate more mail, express, and freight trains towards the Gudur section, thereby lessening the workload at the Central railway station.

However, activists and commuters said the project had come at a significant cost to the MRTS and suburban services on the Beach-Velachery and Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu sections.

MRTS commuters complained that the trains, which were previously operated at a frequency of 10 to 15 minutes, were now being run at 25-minute intervals. Another hurdle the commuters face is the cancellation of multi-sectoral services to Gummidipoondi, Avadi, and Arakkonam as the MRTS had to forego a portion of the track between the Beach and Fort stations after Southern Railway failed to acquire land for the fourth line project.

The MRTS service was truncated at the Chintradipet station for more than one-and-a-half years, they said.

R. Senthil Kumar, a regular commuter from Arakkonam, said that since the cancellation of multi-sectoral services, along with the reduction of MRTS services, commuters from Gummidipoondi and Arakkonam had been facing hardships. The fourth line has also reduced the width of the MRTS platforms at the Park and Fort stations.

On the Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu section, fast trains become regular ones beyond the Egmore station since they are routed from express tracks to suburban ones. This is done since the platform for fast trains at the Fort station has been demolished to make way for the fourth line.

K. Arulraj, a regular commuter from Perungalathur, said hundreds of commuters, who work at the Secretariat, used to take the fast line services operated between the Chengalpattu and Beach stations to reach their workplaces on time. But now, the operation of fast trains on slow lines has been causing them delays, he added.