I have had some childhood fantasies of how wonderful it would be if there were trains running across the lengths of the Velachery roads that would directly take you to Mysore/ Trichy and all the effort you have to spare is just walk across the street and board the train that waits for you. Rarely does your wild fantasies become a reality and luckily it did, if not entirely, for me.though after a odd demanding 7yr wait.
It had taken a whopping 10yr gap for the first phase of the MRTS between Mylai and Beach completion(If I remember the project had been first proposed in the late 80s, 1987 if I am right) and half a dozen more years for the Thiruvanmyur and Velachery link. There were quite some difficulties though including those loose soil conditions and incessant rain and floods in velachery at a time when laying was going on in full swing.
Well, whatever here it is and I did take my maiden ride on a sunday afternoon. The ticket to Beach was just Rs.7 and buy I did.boarded the coach.it was not very crowded for it was a hot sunny afternoon and I had an almost vacant spacious half section of the coach to switch between the left and right entrances.The scheduled departure was 2.55.but was started late by 6 minutes:).the starter came in and the pilot at the rear loco gave a short’bam’ and was duly acknowledged at the drivers in the lead loco and the train started sluggishly.
It was strange to look back into velachery with the giants Sutherland and CEE DEE YES complexes retreat smaller and smaller as the train advanced and picked up speed.The elevation from surface started just at perungudi and kept increasing till Tharamani.I lost the’Dhadang dhadang’ sound of the track here and to discover that there were no sleepers for the track in these lines after elevation.nd all throughout the ride I had positoned myself at the left entrance to watch the Perungudi, OMR and tharamani link roads pass by hastily catching an aerial glimpse of the perungudi software offices and NIFT.The ride along the IT corridor road lasted for about only 4 minutes before we passed on along Madhya Kailash, Kotturpuram, Greenways road, Mandaveli and Mylapore. Sighting of sleepers again and this time the track music welcomed the train all of a sudden as it came near Mailai station with all its might. Beyond Triplicane was a ride along the beach and passing Chindadripet and chepauk came the park station where the descent was to surface again. Then after a grand entrance and hasty departure from fort was the destination beach.
If I had been a Tamil scholar I would have aptly named Beach station as a Sanga palagai.an abodement to all kinds of trains - the MRTS, other EMUs, and mighty diesel engines assisting the goods trains from the harbour.
The travel had taken only about 40 minutes. really I loved it.just catch this fellow if u want to go to central or mylapore. no more summons to call taxis or bidding with autowallas, leave alone a 90 minute’otrrai kaal thavam’ on city buses with all your luggage.
MRTS is definitely a welcome relief to the chain of Velachery, thiruvanmyur and adyar residential hub.
I took a return ticket to velachery after loitering for sometime in the streets of paris and bid a temporary adieu to the workhorse before alighting and heading home.