Citizen Connect: Suburban commuters on first class irked despite more coaches as facilities remain same

After the Southern Railway extended the first class compartment in the suburban trains that are running from Beach to Tambaram stations, the commuters who use the first class compartments regularly had initially welcomed it. But they were in for a rude shock after realising that the extended compartments did not have the same facilities that are usually provided for the first class travellers.

Much to their chagrin, they noted that the seats did not have cushions as usual, and most fans did not work. “Why should I pay more for first class ticket to sit on wooden seats,” fumed K Jagadesh, a software engineer who travels regularly in the first-class compartment from Tambaram to Guindy.

A senior Southern Railway official from Egmore suburban station said that about 250 suburban trains are put into services from Beach to Tambaram at present. Admitting that the extended first-class seats have not been converted into cushion seats, he said the work was getting delayed because the funds for it were not released. The official promised that the issue would be addressed this month.

A State government employee posted at the Secretariat, who is a regular suburban rail commuter from Pallavaram to Park station, also questioned why the passengers should pay more for monthly passes to travel in first class that is not on a par with the prescribed standards.

“The officials should have introduced a new first-class compartment instead of extending it by cutting short the ladies’ compartment. Now, the shortage of space in the ladies’ compartment have irked several female passengers,” she added. S Gomathi, a private employee who often uses the ladies’ compartment while travelling on the suburban train from Chromepet to Egmore station, said, “As the space has been reduced, the women passengers are put into hardship every day. During peak hours, many women are forced to leave the train due to excessive crowd,” she added.

Another Railway official pointed out that authorities were planning to introduce extra ladies’ compartment in future to address the complaints of congestion.