You are at the Madhya Kailash junction near Adyar..It’s the rush hour of the day.. You need to be in Mylapore in 6 minutes.. Can you make it?
Did you say ’’No way! Unless I fly!’’ ? You got the point. You to need fly. That’s exactly what you have to do and you can do it- if only you catch the MRTS train service!
Nicknamed ’Parakkum Rail’in Tamil (The train that flies), it literally flies over the madding traffic on elevated tracks. I believe it’s the only one of it’s kind in the entire country.
At present, it is operated between Beach and Tiruvanmiyur.
The Tiruvanmiyur station is situated exactly opposite the Tidel Park in Taramani. Work is going on in full swing to extend the service upto Velachery.
It takes only 6 mnts to reach Mylapore from Kasturbha Nagar station opp. Madhya Kailash temple, the trip which will take almost 30 mnts by a city bus. And it reaches Chindadripet in less than 20 mnts. It stops for just 12 sec. at each station, except at Mylapore where it stops for about 3 mnts.It’s a sheer delight to enjoy the view of the blue sea while travelling between Chepauk and Light House stations.
There are elevators in all stations. Some stations also have escalator facility. The only drawback is that the service is less frequent between Mylapore and Taramani. There is just one service every 40 mnts, which is woefully inadequate at peak hours. As a result, some peak hour services become over crowded. For example, if you plan to go to beach from Kasturbha Nagar by the 5.10 p.m. service, then be prepared to be packed like sardines! Another irritant is that on weekends there is no service between Mylapore and Tiruvanmiyur.
I’m not a regular commuter and I only travel at less crowded times. At these times, the train is hardly filled to half it’s capacity and it’s an absolute joy to travel.