Metro Rail passengers stranded due to changes in service

CHENNAI: Owing to changes in operating the Chennai Metro Rail service in green line, due to maintenance, the passengers were stranded on Wednesday afternoon.

Several passengers who came to respective stations were forced to take autos or other modes of transit services to reach their destination.

Citing sudden maintenance works at the rooftop of Arumbakkam Metro station, several modifications were implemented by Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) in the green line, on Wednesday afternoon.

During the maintenance work, the service was limited at different points in the green line.

However, the blue line was operated as per schedule. These sudden changes in the services affected several passengers, many having to shell out money on autos.

A regular Metro Rail traveller said, "When I reached the Ashok Nagar Metro station at 3:30 pm, the trains were non-operational. To reach my workplace, I had to spend Rs 300 on an auto, taking 45 minutes to reach Egmore."

The commuter who uses the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) and who just spends 25 minutes to reach her office every day, was infuriated by the service disruption.

Another regular commuter, Sharan added that he panicked when the trains were non-operational, causing him to book a cab to reach his destination.

"For public transportations to be reliable, it is vital that service is responsibly given to people and if not, alternate arrangements and intimations are at least given. With a spike in ridership recently, CMRL should mitigate such issues."

Meanwhile, at about 3:50pm on Wednesday, the services were operational as usual.