Now Imagine a Moving Sidewalk
A suggestion to link --
Egmore - Central
The Issue
: There is a lot of cross traffic between the two stations. Mostly it is done by foot, auto or bus and is certainly cumbersome. Is there a way to improve the quality of travel -- given that the two railheads are already connected by tracks, though over a bulbullaiya (maze) involving Royapuram, Vyasarpadi and what not! There is also cross connectivity through imaginative originations or routing that avoids the Central Terminus altogether
Boundary Conditions
: Two suggestions have already been thrown in -- a sky rail and a grade separator. Conceded that either does not make the sky line look anyway more appealing. Is it at all feasible to meet the objectives without either of them? This note says -- yes, it is possible, simple and inexpensiveHistorically Speaking
: Hyderabad, Bombay VT, Sealdah, Howrah, Central and Egmore -- were meant to behave like a Terminus. That is to say -- not as a way side train halt. Elsewhere in the developed world, the railheads are located on a geographical consideration -- a station in the north e.g Brussels Nord and/or one in the south e.g Boston South and they used to be linked with a metro equivalent. The division of Central and Egmore was on the basis of their belonging to the then MSM and the SI Railway companiesI never felt irksome to leg the distance from the Park station to the Central Terminus -- even as a commuter, daily. The walk was no doubt enjoyable (then cutting through the old bookstalls at the Moore Market). That was a long time ago. Now the milling crowd makes the walk depressing
What is the suggestion?
: The proposal is to have a moving sidewalk from underneath the Park station across Poonamallee High Road reaching the Moore Market metro head, thereafter meandering into the Central railhead, somewhere underneath again (much like the lead to the Underground location at the London VT) and thereafter proceeding to the Park Town Station (below the General Hospital, funds permitting). Later the loop can be completed by going back to the Park station. As an after thought again, much later, the walkway may be extended to Egmore directlyThe arguments in support of this inspiration stem from the facts that (a) passengers do not mind travelling standing -- over short distances, (b) the luggage is taken care of because the moving platforms do not mind being loaded (c) large volumes of human crowds can be treated by the moving sidewalks more effectively
Well, are there examples? Yes plenty, fortunately. The first one to come to the mind is the Frankfurt Airport. A more comprehensive installation is to be seen at the Atlanta airport where underground metro supplements the connectivity amongst the various terminals.
The scheme is not only cost effective but makes use of the many resources already built and existing. Only one issue remains. Funds being constantly in short supply, our planning periods tend to be short -- resulting in over-crowding in no time. A remedy to this predicament could be to charge a toll and make the scheme self supporting