No link buses - Whats happening at the railway stations on the Chennai outskirts now?
Posted on: 15/Dec/2021 9:27:49 AM
Many residents living in the localities on the outskirts of Chennai are not happy regarding the link buses at the railway stations. Inspite of having good access to the railway station, the resident’s face lots of issues regarding connectivity and that was due to the lack of link buses at the railway stations.
Many women depend on the public mode of transport to reach their destinations in Chennai. These women now face issues due to the absence of dedicated link buses.
In western Chennai, there has been a tremendous residential boom and that has been due to the availability of suburban train services plus affordable housing. The localities such as Thirumullaivoyal, Avadi, Pattabiram, Nemilichery , Thiruninravur etc along both sides of the railway track have developed to a huge extent now. The poor connectivity has been an issue as the residents living in these localities have been finding it difficult to reach the railway stations.
Operating small link buses in these localities would bring good revenue for MTC and despite this MTC has not introduced link buses here.
For boarding long distance trains many people from far off places like Poonamallee and Porur etc come to Avadi. It is worthy to note that Avadi has become a multi multi-modal transport hub now. Point is that those people bound for places like Kancheepuram, Sriperumbudur, Oragadam etc take long distance buses from Poonamallee bus terminus. It has become normal to see the passengers use share autos due to the lack of bus services. The passengers use share autos to reach interior areas like Paruthipattu, Karayanchavadi, Veeraraghavapuram, Thiruverkadu, Iyyappanthangal etc.
With many share autos operating between Avadi railway station and Poonamalle bus terminus, the Avadi-Poonamallee road has become very busy.
The MTC bus services were inadequate and the share autos have become only the mode of transportation for the residents here to reach the railway station in Avadi or bus terminus in Poonamallee. This was according to a resident belonging to Karayanchavadi.
He threw light on how traveling in the share autos cost Rs 10 to Rs 20 but the passengers were forced to travel in a cramped manner. From the railway stations belonging to places like Pattabiram, Nemilichery and Thiruninravur etc, the residents now want small link buses to be operated by the MTC. It was brought out that MTC has diverted some small buses that were operating in these places to the metro stations inside the Chennai city.
