RailEnquiry

CHENNAI: Hundreds of commuters had a tough time on Wednesday morning when suburban train services to the Moore Market Complex (MMC) were disrupted for nearly an hour from 8am after signals failed between Basin Bridge railway station and Chennai Central station. Ten suburban trains and two incoming express trains were delayed.A senior railway official said three suburban trains headed to MMC were diverted to Beach station to help commuters to reach the city. Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Express was delayed by 40 minutes and Yelagir Express from Tirupattur was delayed by 35 minutes because of the pile-up. Trains from Tiruvallur and Gummidipoondi to Chennai Central were also affected as many of the trains were held up mid-way.As suburban rakes were held up, most services were delayed by 30 minutes to 90 minutes. "A 15 minute journey took more than 45 minutes because of the disruption," said Gunasekharan , who commutes from Athipattu.The delay affected those commuters most who switch over to bus or suburban trains to reach destinations inside the city. "I reach MMC around 9am and take a suburban train from Park station to Guindy. Today I got delayed by an hour as the train I was travelling in reached MMC late," said P Ramkumar. Disruptions also affected commuters who waited for trains to travel to Tiruvallur. A big crowd piled up at the station because several commuters use suburban trains to commuter to Perambur, Ambattur, Avadi and beyond for work.