Chennai: With Covid-19 cases increasing in the city with each passing day, commuters are irked by the reduction in suburban train services. Some of them alleged MTC bus services too were scaled down in some parts of the city.
Office-goers said lesser number of EMUs are operated than usual which has led to the crowding of trains.
“Overcrowding leads to flouting of social distancing and to make things worse people are not wearing masks as well. I do not understand why the train services were reduced. Authorities concerned should look into the issue at the earliest,” said Sivakumar, a commuter.
When ‘News Today’ contacted Southern Railway authorities, they said that the train services were reduced due to the maintenance and track works that are being carried out.
“These works are expected to go on till 31 March. Normal services will be resumed after that,” said an official.
The official added that only workmen special trains are being operated still and general public are allowed to travel only during non-peak hours.
“As far as coronavirus protocols are concerned, the Railways is constantly creating awareness to maintain social distance and wear masks at all time,” the official added.
Meanwhile, commuters in some parts of the city said that the MTC bus services have also been reduced in the city. It is alleged that only deluxe services are run in many routes.
However, officials denied this. “In fact, the patronage in MTC buses has reduced due to the increase in the corona cases in the past few days.”
“People have once again started to prefer private transportation. During normal times 3,425 buses were being operated. But after the lockdown relaxations 2,750 buses are being run and the services have not been reduced so far. Out of this 1,250 are ordinary services, 1,200 are deluxe services and the remaining are express and small bus services,” said an MTC official.