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MRTS And Passenger Amenities
After Chennai became a hub of IT industries in India, perhaps
next only to Bangalore, the very character, culture, way of life
and the skyline of the nation's fourth-largest urban
agglomeration has undergone a total transformation. The reasons
are many. There are now youngsters in their lakhs having a lot
of disposable income. Therefore, house rents have soared
sky-high, as the buildings themselves have. The roads are unable
to handle the traffic, especially of private cars whose number
has, according to official statistics, increased four times in
one year. (Of course, most of the cars that run on the city
roads are purchased on easy-loans!! That is a different matter
altogether).
Even the suburban train service which is seventy seven years
old, has not been able to provide even an apology of a solution
to the ever growing problem. That is presicely why the Mass
Rapid Transit System was introduced. It has extended service to
sixteen stations already and three more will be added very soon.
However, the plight of the MRTS Stations is to be seen to
believe. There are no Vehicle Parking lots at Chindatripet,
Thrumayilai, Kasturiba Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur and Taramani
stations. In Velachery, paid parking facility is available, but
it has a lot of drawbacks. In stations where parking facilities
are provided, there is no maintenance worth the name. Ticket
sales are at snail's pace. One can see serpentine queues at the
counters and the clerks there are unable to cope with the rush,
especially at peak hours. It is unfortunate that the Southern
railway has not thought it fit to install ticket vending
machines.
No station on the MRTS route is adequately illuminated.
Electrical fittings are antiquated. One will have use a
torchlight in the night to discover the light!
Bus connectivity is woefully inadequate, if not non existent.
Catering facilities are very poor.
About the approach roads, the less said the better!
The tracks are running on raised platforms and the Stations
are also elevated above the road level. Most of the stations are
not disabled-friendly.
One hopes the Southern railway will see the reality, removes
all these drawbacks and provide atleast the basic passenger
amenities at the stations.
H Ramakrishnan
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