An era in transport system coming to an endBy S. Vydhianathan
The Hindu
CHENNAI, JUNE 26. An era in the city transport system will come to an end on June 30 when the metre gauge (MG) suburban section between Egmore and Tambaram will be closed for gauge conversion.
The system which has been a part of Chennai life for 75 years will become the thing of the past and with that the country's only MG Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) services will cease to exist.
The suburban MG service was inaugurated on May 11, 1931 with 17 three-coach EMUs. Following good response from commuters, seven similar units were added to the fleet in 1933 and another four coach units in 1956.
To start with, there were only 13 stations between Tambaram and Beach. Subsequently stations were set up in Tambaram Sanitorium, Trisulam and Pazhavanthangal in response to commuters' demand.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the city grew with the suburban rail system which led to phenomenal development of suburbs.
People, especially those belonging to the middle class, fanned out to far away Pallavaram, Chrompet, and Tambaram in those days as they were assured of a cheap mode of transport system.
The increasing popularity of the system can be ascertained from the fact that the trains which carried about three million passengers in 1931, carried 46 million in 1960-61 and 231 million in 2000-01 with a five per cent annual increase in traffic.
At present about 3.5 lakh people commute in this section. Increasing passenger traffic, non-availability of MG EMU coaches and spare parts, and the necessity to integrate this section with the other two broad gauge corridors namely Beach-Gummudipundi and Beach-Tiruvallur have forced the authorities to close the section for the conversion.
This apart, the burgeoning traffic on this section led to spill over on road traffic on Anna Salai which is already experiencing severe congestion. So the only way to meet the increasing demand, according to railway officials, is to convert the section. The carrying capacity of a nine-car BG EMU rake is 4,251passengers compared to 1,974 in the metre gauge rake.
Sanction for the Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpattu MG section conversion was given in 1998-99 as part of the uni-gauge project.
As the Tamil Nadu Government felt that the project would provide major relief to the travelling public in the city, it decided to chip in 50 per cent of the Rs. 530-crore project.
The project also includes construction of 12 road over bridges/road under bridges to eliminate the level-crossing gates, modification of platforms in all stations to accommodate 12-car BG EMU coaches and procurement of rolling stocks.
Already the Beach-Egmore and Tambaram-Chengalpattu sections have been converted. Work on the last phase of the project will begin on July 1 and it is expected to be completed in four months.
For the convenience of the commuters, Southern Railway will increase the number of BG EMU services on the section. It is also in touch with the Metropolitan Transport Corporation authorities for introducing more bus services between Beach and Tambaram.
Though the commuters will have a difficult time for the next four months, the effect of gauge conversion will be apparent after completion of the project as it will provide dedicated lines for the suburban services. The lines will help authorities to operate more services on the section, according to railway officials.
Last updated 27th June 2004