Straphangers United

The Southern Railway does not advertise it widely, but Chennai Central, the brick red British era terminal with its unmistakable architecture has very good bus connectivity.

Passengers arriving at the terminal need only step out of the main concourse and they have bus bays with stops for a steady stream of buses that touch important places. The easiest way to transfer (if you have light luggage) is to take a bus from outside the terminal to nearby Parrys which is a transport hub offering bus connections to most places in Chennai.

In addition, MTC recently started operating airconditioned Volvo buses on route A1, from Chennai Central Railway Station to Thiruvanmiyur with stops en route at P.Orr and Sons, LIC, Royapettah and Adyar. See the accompanying pictures.

The important thing to remember, therefore, is to make it to the bus bays outside Central, and plan your journey. The autorickshaw drivers at Central are quite aware of the good connectivity and try to prevent passengers from finding out by making an offer well ahead, often on the platforms or in the concourse. DO NOT take an autorickshaw at that point. Walk to the main entrance area, through the wide concourse between platforms 1 and 7, and make it to the exit.

For those going to destinations such as Chintadripet, Chepauk, Triplicane, Santhome, Mylapore, Greenways Road, Mandaveli, Kasturba Nagar, Indira Nagar, Perungudi and Velacheri, there are MRTS trains available just 500 metres outside Central. Take the pedestrian subway outside the station, walk on Stanley Viaduct bridge, and midway on the bridge, enter the Park Town station on the MRTS line. Tickets are sold at the station.

The 2008 timetable for the MRTS is here.

Exit from Central to the Park station, also about 500 metres away and connected by pedestrian subway for trains to other Southern destinations on the Tambaram line — important stations being Egmore, Nungambakkam, Kodambakkam, Mambalam, Saidapet, Guindy, Meenambakkam, Pallavaram, and so on, with a stop at Tirusoolam that connects with the Chennai airport.

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Keep tracking this post for updates.

A middle aged man died apparently after being hit by a train at Fort Railway Station mid-morning today, tragically proving what we have been saying for long: that Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Minister of State Velu and the Southern Railway administration have been paying very little attention to needs of commuters.

These pictures of the dead man and the concern for procedure AFTER the death go to show that public transport infrastructure in India remains hopelessly out of date, unfriendly to commuters and an open invitation for death and disability on the tracks.

Only last night, trains were delayed at Fort Station at 9.30 p.m. due to an accident.

There are no pedestrian facilities at Fort Station that make the transit from the Beach-Tambaram line to the MRTS line easy for commuters. The station has been walled off along the Muthuswamy Bridge side, but for those who rush from the Tambaram line to MRTS and vice-versa, the steep staircase is a disincentive. They rush across the tracks, often forgetting that trains appear suddenly from the Park side where the track curves partly out of view.

It may be true that crossing tracks is an offence. It is equally a callous and disdainful attitude on the part of the Railway Ministry, which by Mr. Lalu Prasad’s proud assertions in Parliament, is sitting on a cash pile of Rs.25,000 crores. If some of that money can go to fund infrastructure in the stations — escalators, lifts, ticketing and lighting, such tragic happenings can be averted.

It is easy to prescribe difficult solutions for commuters to follow, but it is foolish to expect to police a system with fines, without caring to look at human psychology, and that too when the basic facilities are not provided.

In the absence of modern infrastructure for our suburban and MRTS stations, we have to blame the Railway Administration for such deaths. If rules can be made in India for passenger cars to have seat belts, air bags and be tested for crashworthiness, can not rules be made to compel our cash-rich railways to instal escalators and lifts?

The bizarre nature of such accidents and the lack of impact on commuter behaviour can be understood by looking at the picture of a woman crossing the tracks, even as the body of the victim was being examined just a few feet away by mortuary employees and police.

Should we wait for more accidents to happen? Should we keep waving the Railway Act in the face of relatives of victims to tell them that the Administration has no responsibility in such events, because the victim violated the law? Are we incapable of operating a modern, fully equipped railway?

Straphangers welcome the introduction of automatic vending machines as an addition to manned counters on the MRTS and suburban railways of Chennai. This has been reported by The Hindu today.

Modernisation of the suburban rail systems is the consistent demand of users, and the vending machines, which will work with pre-paid smart cards will help attract more travellers.

However, such solutions need to be complemented by many important changes that will make urban rail commuting a truly positive and efficient experience. Primarily, the railway personnel manning the system require a culture change, that treats suburban railways not as a poor man’s travel option but one that is demonstrably superior to road-based, personal-mode transportation.

This requires, fundamentally, the deployment of staff who are oriented towards fast, urban commuting requirements; who appreciate the value of information to commuters; who think a working clock in a railway platform is important; who are oriented to thinking of transit connections and maps that aid it.

These representative qualities are part of every modern urban rail system, including, presumably, the Delhi and Kolkata Metros, though not the Mumbai suburban railways.

Lighting is a key determinant of attractiveness of urban rail systems: they provide a welcoming, safe ambience, especially for women commuters. All the railway stations in the suburban and MRTS lines display a remarkable disregard for lighting, often on the platforms but almost certainly in the public areas around the stations.

Catering facilities in the suburban lines are woefully behind times, dirty and the personnel displaying poor sense of hygiene. These are times when mobile communications are growing by leaps and bounds. It would make sense, therefore, to have mobile phone kiosks offering hardware and services right inside the stations.

We therefore urge the Railway Minister of State from Tamil Nadu, Mr. P.Velu to upgrade these essential services. The ticket machines are no doubt positive, but a lot more needs to be done.

This is not the kind of scene that will appear extraordinary to jaded Indians who battle mad traffic everyday. But the indifference of the average middle class Indian may have to change soon, considering the rising tide of vehicles that clog our roads.

In this short clip at the Jawahar Vidyalaya junction in Ashok Nagar, you can spot the dangers that pedestrians and cyclists face, as they try to use road space. These classes of road users are supposed to derive support from the National Urban Transport Policy. But like so much else in India, the policy has so far remained on paper, with the Chennai Corporation and the other government agencies actively discriminating against walking and non-motorised traffic. Footpaths are being stripped out to provide space for more vehicles, and where they are available, are fully encroached or dirty.

The most interesting part of this clip is the role of the policeman, who is enjoying the shade of the tree and letting the traffic find its own level!

Earlier posts on this blog have drawn a heart-warming reaction from scholars studying the plight of pedestrian rights in Chennai.

Here is a picture of the current state of the entrance to Kodambakkam suburban train station. This serious obstacle to the movement of passengers at the station entrance has been lying almost unattended for a month now. Remember that this station is used by many blind people who go to the Backward Classes Students Hostel on Viswanathapuram Main Road.

After dark, this spot becomes even more dangerous to even normal sighted people because of its condition and bad lighting. The Chennai Division of Southern Railway apparently does not find the time to devote to such problems that afflict our suburban train system.

Read an earlier post here.

The Beach – Velachery MRTS intersects Anna Salai at Chintadripet. This is the station that is closest to Anna Salai, LIC and Ellis Road, Wallajah Road in the Anna Statue area.

Important: Southern Railway has made changes in 2008 that have removed some MRTS services. So this time table is no longer valid.

Here is the 2008 time-table for the MRTS.

There are no trains South towards Velachery from here beyond 8.38 p.m.

Commuters have been demanding extension of the timing of trains to provide a connection for those arriving by MTC buses at P.Orr and Sons stop and Simpsons stop (operations go on throughout the night and in good frequency till 10.30 p.m.)

The last train from Beach towards Velachery should leave at 10.30 p.m. or even 11 p.m. with intervening services.

This would help many more people, who are at present without service, travel south to Light House, Mylapore, Mandaveli, Kotturpuram, Indira Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Perungudi and Velacheri.

On my first visit to Velachery after the launch of the MRTS service (to get a full network season ticket from Velachery to Tambaram via beach, cost Rs. 195), I found many interesting aspects about one of the lesser known elevated urban railways in the world.

But first, here is the time table giving departures from Velachery. It is a mobile phone photograph converted into PDF for ease of download: velacherytimings.pdf

More on the trip, a video and some photos later.

The MRTS seems to be approaching its saturation point on many services through the day, when the six car rakes are suffocatingly overcrowded.

This situation must not be confused with the lack of popularity of the service among many people living in parts of Chepauk, Triplicane, Light House and Greenways Road. Not all trains are full, while some are hopelessly crowded.

While there is no doubt that the popularity of the MRTS will grow in the coming months so far as people in Velachery, Perungudi, Tidel Park, Thiruvanmiyur and Indira Nagar are concerned, the failure to address overcrowding will lead to negative traveller sentiment overall. That is just what public transport in Chennai, and in India, does not need today.

People around the world are aware that the Indian suburban railways and bus transport offer some of the worst travel experiences among commuter systems in the world (we are not talking about the Kolkat and Delhi Metros which are newer systems). 

For most of India, one is reminded of Galbraith’s famous observation about our society: private affluence and public squalour.

Our leaders travel by SUVs and plush airconditioned cars. They don’t walk on streets. Even our senior babus don’t walk on the streets, which is why we do not have decent footpaths. It is also clear that the average person can now buy an A/C car without breaking the bank and no longer depends on buses and trains.

What we need therefore is a bus and train system that is comfortable, interconnected, intermodal and affordable. None of these characteristics apply to Chennai’s transport network at the moment. MTC has overpriced its Volvo services in the name of providing comfort, and is otherwise operating obsolete buses for the bulk of commuters. Its conductors are rude and belligerent. Its ticketing system is Victorian.

On the question of MRTS, the six car rakes are crying out for immediate replacement with nine car rakes in all peak services. These rakes must be of the modern design from Siemens, which are being built in Chennai’s ICF for the Mumbai railways and possibly others. Why should Chennai commuters not have the same facility?

These images of commuters waiting in very neglected surroundings in the Fort MRTS station show that Southern Railway is not demonstrably serious about the operation of this rail system.

The statement of the Divisional Railway Manager Mr. Man Singh to The Hindu recently that he was heartened by the crowding in the MRTS (as a sign of patronage) reflects the outdated philosophy that guides our railway administration. In London, if the DRM had made a similar statement, he would have been sacked.

In India, apparently, crowding is a sign of success. This is just the sort of sentiment that keeps people away from public transport. We at SU condemn it and demand that the Southern Railway start its modernisation with its mindset. It must respond to commuter demand with longer, more frequent trains.

Also, I would urge that passengers who find something wrong with the facilities at the railway station can enter their complaint in the complaint book available with the ticket clerk or station master. This is the best way to put your issue on the record. The Railways being a British-designed system, still have some systems and processes that work. A complaints book is one of them.

There is the alternative of filing a petition under the Right to Information Act, 2005, to the Public Information Officer for the Chennai Divsion of Southern Railway.

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Just how small and compact can travel maps get? During a recent visit to Amsterdam, I picked up this micro-map of the Schiphol airport. The map was so small, that I was in danger of losing it after I returned.

Here are three pictures that demonstrate how maps can serve a useful function, whether it is air travel (GHIAL can think of similar things at Hyderabad’s Shamshabad airport) or rail (If we had a similar map for Chennai Central, or VT or Howrah, people would not be confused about how to use the rail terminal or connections to it from the city).

There used to be a time when the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) put out maps that folded down to a manageable size. Those have disappeared, although today MTC operates even airconditioned buses.

The new MRTS could have done a similar thing in conjunction with the other suburban rail lines. But the railways are not oriented towards this kind of service. Train services remain a “take it or leave it” offering in India in general, and Chennai in particular.

Imagine the impact of such a useful map and information ”micro book” at Chennai Central that tells people about all the connectivity options — buses operating from just outside the terminal, the Park and Park Town stations of the suburban and MRTS lines across Poonamallee High Road, the call taxis and the day, weekly and monthly passes that MTC says it sells in the bus bay outside? 

That would put enormous pressure on  recalcitrant autorickshaw drivers.

How can the big programmes on climate change work, if basic information about even the existing public transport options is not made available?

Perhaps the only compact size in which rich map and transit information will be the feature-laden phones from Nokia and Motorola!

As a public service, I am providing the preliminary connectivity information put out by GMR, for the new airport in Shamshabad, serving Hyderabad. The airport, which was opened by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on March 14, 2008 was operationslised on Saturday night. (Read the report on the inaugural by Ms. Gandhi published in The Hindu here).

Download the connectivity related information here in PDF – 2 MB

View a full photo gallery of the airport here.

Provision of this information does not mean this blog supports limitless expansion of civil aviation. It is well recognised that aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of carbon emissions, and the boom in the populous countries, coupled with globalisation represents a big danger to the atmosphere.

Our policy is that aviation cannot be a low-cost activity and where flying can be avoided, people should do just that. 

The objective in presenting the connectivity and telephonic information functions for the new Hyderabad airport here is to press for efficient, comfortable and affordable public transport linkages to Shamshabad. That would reduce the number of private cars moving to the airport. We are presented with a fait accompli in the form of expansion of civil aviation in India. The least we can do is to price it sensibly, to reduce unnecessary flying, and to improve information and public transport to airports.