Why are the residents of Tambaram and its nearby areas unhappy and disappointed now?
Posted on: 24/Mar/2021 9:22:05 AM
For a long time, the residents of Tambaram and nearby places have been demanding a stop at Tambaram railway station for Chennai-Madurai Teja express train. Now, all their efforts to make the train stop at Tambaram have gone waste as the Railway Board has not approved their proposal.
The Chennai-Madurai Teja express starts at Egmore and it has got an annual footfall of 4.5 crores is a known fact. This important train would stop at Dindigul. In Chennai, after the Beach station, Tambaram station records footfalls of 7crores annually. Point is that Chennai beach station records a footfall of 9.5 crores every year on Chennai suburban station network.
It must be recalled that in June 2019 the chief passenger transport manager wrote to Railway Board executive director Mr. M.S. Bhatia that a member of RB during the visit to Chennai city suggested a halt for the train at Tambaram. A recommendation was submitted by the GM of Southern Railway that there would be an increase of just 5 minutes in the onward journey and there would not be any delay in the overall running time. It must be taken into account that on 18th March 2020 a reply from Mr. Bhatia stated that the railway apex body has not approved the halt at Tambaram. Approval for the train to stop at Dindigul was only issued and this was according to a resident belonging to Chitlapakkam.
It is worthy to note that several residents have been demanding the halt for more than a year ever since the services have begun. There is huge patronage for this Chennai-Madurai Teja express. This was brought out by a Madipakkam resident. He added that the residents would have to book cabs that cost Rs 1000 more than the ticket rate. It is now said that the issue would be taken up again after the elections get over.
