Commuters arriving in the city from as far away as Tiruttani on the west and Villupuram on the south want the Southern Railway to replace eight-car and 10-car mainline electrical multiple unit (MEMU) trains with at least 12-car MEMUs.
At a time when the Indian Railways has sleek and sophisticated Vande Bharat trains, thousands of commuters, including traders, visiting the city from far off places are forced to travel in the cramped and congested MEMU trains. The MEMUs are operated on the fast line on which mail and express trains are normally operated.
The MEMU services are intercity trains provided with toilets for longer journeys and are operated till Villupuram on the south side, Tiruttani and also Tirupati on the west side, and Sullurpetta in the North.
While the suburban train services have been converted to 12-car rakes on all the three sections in the city, the operation of eight-car rakes is causing severe inconvenience to public due to over-crowding in these trains.
The MEMU train is smaller than the broad-gauge suburban trains with poor ventilation and narrow access for the commuters.
