Velacherry-St Thomas Mount MRTS services to commence on 10 March
Southern Railway has announced that MRTS services between Velachery and St. Thomas Mount will commence from March 10.
The announcement from the Southern Railway came after the national transporter slashed the train services from 204 to 115 in the Chennai Beach–Chengalpattu section, causing hardship to lakhs of passengers and drawing sharp criticism from the ruling DMK, Congress, CPM and other parties.
Earlier, the railways announced a cut in the number of services from February 20 to April 5 to facilitate redevelopment works at Chennai Egmore and also shifted operations from slow lines to express lines.
In a statement, Southern Railway said the commissioning of the Velachery–St. Thomas Mount MRTS section from March 10 will significantly enhance peak-hour connectivity between Tambaram and Chennai Beach via St. Thomas Mount.
During the block period, passengers from Chengalpattu, Tambaram and other southwestern suburbs travelling to Beach, Fort and Chennai Central can switch to MRTS at St. Thomas Mount instead of proceeding towards Chennai Egmore, where delays have increased due to the diversion of trains from fast to slow lines.