The suburban train services in Chennai will resume from October 5 only for essential services personnel authorised by the government of Tamil Nadu. Southern Railway also announced that staff members who wish to utilise the services, called ‘Workmen special’, will have to get authorisation from the government officer nominated by the state government for the purpose.
According to a press release issued by Southern Railway on Friday, details of the trains that will function from October 5 will be displayed at the stations. “The specific travel permission shall have details such as Name, Designation, department /Office etc. This travel permission in original will be accepted by the Railways only when presented along with the photo ID Card of the person issued by his/her office,” the statement added.
Speaking to TNM, a senior official from Southern Railway said that the state government offices and departments will be in charge of issuing the travel permits to the employees deemed to be essential services personnel. “To enter the premises of the stations, this permit card is mandatory along with official ID cards of the employee. Only if both these documents are available can the staff members buy tickets and travel in these ‘workmen special’ trains,” the officer explained. He further said that workmen special trains will run only on suburban routes and not on the MRTS line.
Southern Railway also said that the rakes will be sanitised at appropriate intervals and passengers shall adhere to COVID-19 protocols like wearing masks and maintaining physical distance while at the stations and while travelling in the trains. Thermal screening of all passengers will be done at the entry point of stations.
“Both single journey and season tickets will be issued at the booking counters available at all suburban stations through UTS (Unreserved Ticketing System). The essential services staff should carry the specific travel permission issued by the nodal officer in original as well as their photo ID card while entering the station and also travelling,” the statement added.
Those who are authorised to travel can extend the validity of their season ticket based on the number of days lost due to the suspension of suburban services.