Passengers want reintroduction of individual trolleys in railway stations

Chennai rail passengers demand trolleys for luggage, facing resistance from porters due to livelihood concerns.

Trolleys have become such a necessity for long-distance passengers that the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has made providing them mandatory for the single concessionaire managing the Kilambakkam bus terminus. While trolleys have become a part and parcel in airports, assisting passengers carry heavy luggage, those opting to travel by trains lament their unavailability in railway stations.

The city has two major rail terminals – Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station and Egmore railway station. In both, trolleys for individual passengers are absent, with heavy trolleys for carrying luggage and parcels only available through porters.

N. Subramanian, a retired railway official, said trolleys were available at the airport and Koyambedu bus terminus, so they could be provided in the railway stations well. The trolleys could be placed at designated locations, with special attendants to rent them out to passengers for a small fee, he said.

Mr. Subramanian said ‘self-help’ trolleys used to be available at Chennai Central railway station till around 1995. They gradually vanished after porters, perceiving the service as a threat to their livelihood, sabotaged it. He has written several petitions to the Southern Railway to bring back the service, but to no avail.

B. Guganesan, Chief Public Relations Officer, Southern Railway, said the reason for the absence of individual trolleys were space constraints and safety concerns. Citing a circular issued in May 2013, he said modern luggage trolleys for senior citizens and women passengers were introduced in Howrah and Sealdah railway stations, with plans to expand the scheme to eight more railway stations, including Chennai Central, under a pilot project through the Rail Yatra Sevaks. However, this scheme was discontinued, and at present, there had been no proposal to reintroduce individual trolleys for passengers.

On the complaints of the porters forming a cartel and stopping the reintroduction of trolleys, railway officials said all major stations had been provided with lifts and escalators and, moreover, with baggage nowadays coming with wheels, most passengers prefer to carry it themselves. As a result, dependence on porters had reduced, with them already feeling the pinch.

Also, whenever any case of overcharging by porters was reported by a passenger, the Commercial Department has been taking immediate action of ensuring the refund of any excess amount collected and counselling the porters concerned, the officials added.