Services to Thirumalpur and Chengalpet are overcrowded with passengers hanging on footboard
Photograph for representational purposes only. (Photo: DC)
Chennai: Tuesday’s twin tragedy has again brought to focus overcrowding on local EMU trains, the lifeline for thousands of everyday commuters in the city. Countless working professionals, students and traders, especially those from southern areas like Tambaram and beyond, are dependent on the train services. Connectivity to stations beyond Tambaram is too few and far between, despite a large number of passengers coming from that sector. The fast services to Thirumalpur and Chengalpet are overcrowded with most passengers hanging on to the footboard. According to them, the number of services presently operated during the peak hours, needs immediate augmentation.
N. Vetrivel, 48, who resides at Vandalur, is totally dependent on the fast service to reach his office at Guindy. “If one has to reach Vandalur by bus, it would take a lot of time considering the traffic on the roads. Thus, train is the only viable option for several individuals notwithstanding the overcrowded compartments,” he said. The situation in first class and ladies coaches is equally bad. K. Karthiga, employee of a private firm in Saidapet, said the railway authorities should consider increasing services to underserved areas like Chengalpet. “Until a few years back, there used to be services between Tambaram and Chengalpet but they have been discontinued. They should re-start the service as they will immensely benefit people living in the extended southern parts of the city,” she said.
According to a railway man based at Guindy station, the peak hour crowd (8.30-10.30 am and 5–9 pm) see as much as 5,000 passengers (conservative estimate) transit through the station per hour. “Most of these passengers are from areas like Chengalpet. Despite several campaigns undertaken by us highlighting the dangers, passengers, particularly the youth, continue to travel on the footboard,” he said.
Two run over by EMUs in Chennai
A 26-year-old, travelling on the footboard of an overcrowded fast EMU train, fell off the train and died on the tracks between Meenambakkam and Pazhavanthangal stations on Tuesday morning. Hours later, another commuter, peering out of the train to see the body of the first victim, fell out of the train and was run over by an EMU coming on the opposite track.
G. Raghavendra, from Irumbaliyur who worked in a private firm in Chennai, was on board the travelling on Thirumalpur-Beach fast train at around 8.30 am. Battling rush hour crowds, he managed just a toehold on the footboard of the train. As the train whizzed past stations, Raghavendra hit his head on an electric pole and fell off the train. He died on the spot.
For three hours, his body lay unattended on the tracks even though people along the tracks, who saw him fall, alerted the police immediately. First on the spot was a team from the local police station. They left the scene saying it fell in the jurisdiction of the railway police, which finally arrived around 11.30 am. The body was then shifted to the government hospital for post-mortem. Till the railway police reached the scene, local people made sure that animals did not maul the body the man.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old R Vallarasu of Vandalur, boarded another EMU plying between Tambaram and Beach around 2.15 pm. Railway officials say that the teenager, also employed in a private firm, had heard about the morning accident and also stories of how long the body lay unattended on the tracks. Between the Meenambakkam and Pazhavanthangal stations, he peered out of the train to try and spot Raghavendra's body on the track. Losing his balance he fell out of the moving train and was crushed under the wheels of an EMU travelling in the opposite direction. He died on the way to hospital.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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