Public transport has always been the backbone of Chennai. While the city has its fair share of traffic issues, it’s never been as bad as Bengaluru, thanks to the robust public transport options that have stood the test of time and evolved as the city grew, especially with the influx of the automobile and IT industries bringing both intra-state and inter-state immigrants. Chennai’s bus and suburban train systems have always been the lifeline, but with the introduction of the MRTS to cover areas suburban trains didn’t reach, and CMRL making rail transport even more hyper-local, the city’s public transport network is expanding in phases.
For someone like me, who lives in the suburbs of Chennai and commutes to the city for work, travelling by suburban train is an emotional experience! It offers two distinct experiences: the ‘peak hour’ and ‘non-peak hour’ journeys.
Peak hour journeys are chaotic. If you are not boarding the train at its source station, forget about getting a seat; you are in for an adventure that will challenge your athletic skills. You may find yourself sandwiched between sweaty strangers hanging on for dear life. Insane and dangerous! Yes, but ask the average middle-class commuter, who cannot afford auto fares or does not want to take a chance on the slow MTC bus, the train remains the best bet.
While peak-hour journeys test your physical strength, the non-peak hour trips test your mental resilience. And trust me, the best of these are the first and last trains of the day on the Beach-Chengalpattu route! Both trains have a character of their own, shaped by the quirks and energy levels of their passengers. Now, let’s travel together on board to get a feeling of this fascinating journey.
Picture courtesy: The Hindu.
First train of the day
The first morning train on the suburban route is akin to a ritual! It starts from Chengalpattu as early as 3:55 AM and reaches Vandalur at 4.29 AM. Walking from home to the station in the dark, negotiating the good old canine street friends, all the while being sensitive to the sounds around you is in itself a surreal experience. The station, at this time, is mostly empty, you may be lucky to spot a person or two fearfully glancing at one another, but the sozzled guy sleeping on one of the benches undisturbed by the sound of trains or mosquito bites is a set property. Waiting in the dark at the Vandalur station, looking towards Chengalpattu for that ray of light from the engine has a spiritual aura for me, and the moment I see it am overwhelmed by an indescribable feeling of joy!
The train has a decent crowd on weekdays, with many occupying full seats – stretched out in deep sleep – at times you don’t get a place to sit in spite of just 30 percent occupancy! The regulars on this train are vendors who carry goods into the city from the farmlands of Chengalpattu and Kanchipuram. There are those with their trademark aluminium “anna-koodai” who start the day early to go pick stuff from Koyambedu and Kasimedu to sell in their area, with a few of course coming back to the train itself to sell the same all day long!
You have, what I call the ‘day scholars’ – people who travel long distances to places like Jolarpettai and Vellore/Katpadi for work from this part of the city. They generally take the train, get down at Park Station, walk to Central and take an express to reach their destination.
You will find kids going to attend sports coaching classes, some with their cricket, tennis or badminton kits and a few dressed in their sports gear – many upbeat and some sleepily dragging along because their parents want them to attend! You may even spot a few studious children glued to their books, on their way to tuition class.
You also come across the time-managing women, with a cosmetics kit in their handbag, letting their hair dry in the breeze, on the train itself! Can you believe, even beggars who wish to reach their specific destination to make money in the mornings take this train!
On Sunday, however, the train is almost empty and you feel like you are the king! Sitting alone, the child in me makes me imagine crazy things like holding on to the iron clamps above and swinging, shouting out loud, and singing at the top of my voice as if the world was listening to me!
As I write this, I am once again travelling by the first morning train after years. It’s so emotional as I head to Triplicane – Thiruallikeni, to trace the place where my father spent 45 years of his life.
Last train of the day
Even as the first has a character of its own, the last train of the day is no less! I used to travel by this train from Mambalam, after a long day’s work at The Times of India. Now I take the train from the park.
The last train leaves Beach Station at 10:50 PM, and reaches Vandalur by midnight. The travellers on board here are completely different from the first – not as gender inclusive, as women are few. As I travel in the first class I can see that the ladies compartment which is just a small partition away is almost empty with hardly one or two women; it is guarded by the railway protection force.
It is the fag end of the day and the travellers are done and out, a few resting their heads on the wall have already begun their good night’s sleep. A fellow nearby opens the parcel of biriyani he has managed to grab on the way and eats hungrily, and the entire compartment is enveloped in its strong flavour. The most annoying, however, is the old man who will neither use the headset nor reduce the volume as he listens full blast to his favourite Kannadasan, MGR and Sivaji Ganesan hits.
The completely sloshed guy is the worst of the lot, he sits on the floor close to the exit door busy abusing the world around him – he spares none; it’s a masterclass in bad words. Amidst all this chaos there will be one guy busy working on his laptop oblivious to the sights and sounds around him! Such people live in their own world whatever time of the day or night it may be!
Unlike in the trains during peak hours, where crowds fight to get in, on the late night train, only two persons may walk in even in a station like Guindy. That’s the relief you feel at the non peak hour train!
You can listen to the passengers responding to the late night calls from home enquiring about their whereabouts, giving their status update. And there can be nothing like that coincidental meeting of your train friend – you feel blessed and more importantly, secure seated with him in the last night train.
One thing that needs to be addressed by the relevant authorities is the network issue while in transit. I still remember it was one of the IPL seasons and it was a CSK vs MI match. As usual it was down to the last two overs with MS Dhoni at the crease and CSK needing a lot of runs, it was a nailbiting chase indeed. The 15 persons in the compartment were glued to their mobile phones when suddenly the network went off for many sitting around me. I quickly positioned my phone in a way that all of us could watch the match together. We all cheered together for CSK as MSD, in his usual way, took the match to the fag end and won it for the yellow brigade. The otherwise silent compartment suddenly broke out in cheers and high-fis – in our country the game of cricket will always bring us together!
Personally, on the night train I have had several instances of sleeping and missing the Vandalur station, the worst part is you don’t have a train to get back again as well. Having overshot the mark, I have often had to get down at Urapakkam and take a cab back home!
While the scenes and energy levels are different in the first and last trains of the day, what is common to both is the atmosphere of darkness, emptiness and feeling of insecurity which is more pronounced at night. Imagine getting on to a train with nobody in the compartment and the train stopping at the signal between two stations at 11.45 PM. The feeling is like being caught in a horror movie, you can’t think straight, your mind starts racing, but that is what makes life super fascinating!
All said and done, there is so much life within the 12 compartments between a pair of tracks running between Chengalpattu and the Beach. The daily disscussions, the friendship it offers, and the learning it imparts, is just so amazing! Life on the train is so inclusive that travelling in a cab cannot equal!
It augurs well that Chennai has this amazing connectivity in terms of public transport, and one can try to minimize pollution by optimising its usage, and travel by suburban trains.