Long wait in the 'agni nakshatram'

Tambaram: Commuters waiting in the scorching heat to get a ticket at the Tambaram Sanatorium railway station.Travelling by train under the scorching heat during `agni nakshatram' can be punishing. Waiting in queues in the open to get a single ticket for the journey can be an ordeal.But for hundreds of commuters at Tambaram Sanatorium railway station, a bad enough situation is made worse by the absence of a proper shelter near the ticket counters. Besides those in Sanatorium, the railway station caters to the needs of thousands of commuters, mainly office-goers and students, from nearby areas such as Chitlapakkam, Kadaperi and East Tambaram. Southern Railway officials say some 20,000 tickets and 150 season tickets are sold at Tambaram Sanatorium railway station every day.

The lack of a shelter near the ticket counter forces commuters to wait under the blazing summer heat. According to Southern Railway officials, two counters are functioning at present: one for season tickets and the other for daily tickets.Sometimes, the queue is so long that the commuters spill on to the platform and even the pedestrian subway. With commuters waiting in the subway, there is no easy access to the platforms. Chitlapakkam residents understandably stress the need to extend the canopy near the ticket counters.

They recall that in January the Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu had said that Rs. 3.2 crore would be spent on providing roofs for platforms on a priority basis. At least, temporary arrangements should be made until the permanent solutions are put in place, say residents.