TAMBARAM: A 25-year-old man died after he was hit by an electric train near St. Thomas Mount railway station on Thursday.
Railway police identified the victim as Gopal Mandal. A native of West Bengal, he was employed as a construction worker. He was crossing the railway track opposite Nidhi School, the scene of several such fatal accidents, when he was hit by the train.
Once a level-crossing (LC No. 15) connected Nidhi School, on the western side of the railway track, with Mastan Gori Street on the opposite side. Following the construction of a subway near the St. Thomas Mount railway station, it was closed. However, thousands of school children and office-goers cross the track at this point.
Though residents of Adambakkam and Alandur have been urging Southern Railway for a long time to construct a pedestrian subway at the spot, with the Alandur Municipality supporting their demand, there seems to be little progress on this project. Police said they had lost count of the number of people killed, maimed or injured after being hit by trains at the spot.
Hostile reactions
Efforts to fence the area by Southern Railway has met with hostile reactions from residents and pedestrians, as they would have to take a long detour to reach their destinations.
Residents, civic groups and the local body are clearly of the view that accidents could be prevented only if a pedestrian subway was built there.
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