The Hindu : On the wrong track?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 28, 2003

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On the wrong track?

Railway authorities are facing the same problems in most urban centres where a mass transit system has been developed. Despite the huge investment, there are no returns, writes S. Vydhianathan.

ON THE face of it, Chennai's Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) should be the most attractive travel option in a metro that has about 20 lakh vehicles on the road, endless traffic hold-ups, rising pollution and a bad safety record. India's first elevated rail transit system has escalators to platforms, lifts for the aged and the handicapped, and modern stations. Yet, there is just a gaggle of commuters in a three-car train and the stations are deserted — the city virtually denies its existence.

Railway authorities are facing the same problems in most urban centres where a mass transit system has been developed. Despite the huge investment, there are no returns. Commuter patronage refuses to pick up, though the city buses are over-crowded. The time has perhaps come to review the entire approach to urban transport and come up with an integrated approach to rail and road systems.

Chennai's urban planners expected things to be different when they launched the project in the 1970s. The exponential growth in the city's population coupled with an even faster rise in the number of vehicles presented a formidable challenge to city planners aiming for a quicker, safer, more economical and also pollution free transportation system. This led to the idea for an MRTS.

Before the implementation of the system, a number of surveys were done, including the one by the Madras Area Transportation Study Unit (MATSU) set up by the Planning Commission during 1968-70 and subsequently by the Metropolitan Transport Project (MTP), established by Indian Railways in 1971. The surveys identified the present north-south eastern corridor as one with the potential of nearly six lakh daily commuters. Based on this an elevated MRTS was mooted in the space available along the Buckingham Canal, which cuts through some parts of the city.

The MTP planned to implement the project in four phases: the first between Beach and Tirumailai (Mylapore), the second from Tirumailai to St. Thomas Mount, the third between St. Thomas Mount and Villivakkam and the final lap from Villivakkam to Ennore.

Though the system was conceived in the mid-1970s it took nearly two decades for the first phase to take off, resulting in both cost escalation and of passengers losing interest in the project itself. By the time the system became operational, bus services had increased phenomenally and the people were reluctant to switch over to another mode of transport.

Though the first phase of 8.66 km was completed at a huge cost of Rs. 269 crores, the rate of return is woefully low. The system, which was designed to carry not less than one lakh commuters per hour in each direction is now carrying just 20,000 commuters a day, that too in both the directions. Excepting on occasions like a cricket test match at the Chepauk stadium or an occasional air show on the Marina, on other days the services are running practically empty. What is more, there has been a steady decline in passenger traffic.

A train full of empty seats... the mrts in channai. - Photo k. Gajendran

Stung by the poor patronage, the railway administration made many changes in the operation, including introduction of direct services from Arakkonam/ Tiruttani and Gummudipundi to Tirumailai besides increasing the frequency of services. But these measures failed to woo commuters to the MRTS.

Many reasons are attributed for the Chennai MRTS remaining a non-starter. Two key reasons seem to the higher fare structure and the absence of the inter-modal transport facility at the stations in the first phase. Any system would fail to attract commuters if it is not integrated with other transport modes with convenient transfer facilities.

At present train and bus services on this section are competing with, instead of complementing, each other. After the introduction of EMU services, Southern Railway expected the transport corporation to reduce the number of services on this corridor. But the erstwhile Pallavan Transport Corporation, now the Metropolitan Transport Corporation, not only increased the services but also failed to coordinate with the railway administration. For example, the railways constructed a bus terminal at the Chintadripet station, off the arterial Anna Salai, to accommodate not less than 50 buses at a time. If the transport corporation had introduced feeder bus services to various points on Anna Salai, the MRTS would have attracted more passengers. Though an experiment was made initially, not a single bus starts from the intended bus terminus.

Similarly roads were laid to the Chepauk and Light House stations to enable bus services to the entrance of the stations. This too did not succeed. Moreover, there is no parking facility for two wheelers in the stations, when about 16 per cent of commuters use cycles, and four per cent use motorcycles or scooters to reach the stations.

Another major drawback is the higher fare structure on the Railways and the absence of a combined ticket for an integrated transport system. At present train fares are twice the bus fares. As railway fares are fixed by authorities in Delhi, they do not take into account the local conditions. Urban transport experts suggest that the ultimate solution will be to set up local Urban Transport Authorities that can integrate a multi-modal system, with a common tariff and combined ticketing. Neither the Railways nor the Transport corporations seem to be keen on this as they are afraid it will cut into their revenues.

The lack of easy accessibility and the location of some of the existing stations are the other factors that act as deterrent. Stations like Park Town, Chepauk, Tiruvallikeni and Light House are situated very close to major slums and commuters, especially women, are afraid to use the service after 6 p.m. The maintenance of stations is appalling to say the least and they are now considered dens of anti-social elements. Moreover the alignment of the first phase traverses through the slums and some commercial areas, touching the residential areas only at Thirumailai, at the fag end of this phase. Railway officials themselves are aware of these drawbacks. These shortcomings have been avoided in the second phase, where work is fast progressing, they say. To start with the Tirumailai-Velacheri stretch, would be opened for traffic in a few weeks. Moreover, the second phase is through thickly populated residential areas. At present people there have no alternative except to travel in crowded buses, though the trains may be more comfortable and take hardly one-third of the time to travel from Mylapore to Park Town for instance. Further, the administration in coordination with the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority is providing adequate parking facilities and feeder bus services in the second phase, to make the MRTS more attractive.

It remains to be seen how the commuters of the extended South Chennai area respond to the MRTS. The Railway authorities hope that with the State Government now planning to build a new Secretariat at Kotturpuram, things will look up for the MRTS.

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