No MRTS on weekends

It would have been the kind of interesting "view from the sky" ride that one normally pays heavily for in a theme park. From Chintadripet, in the centre of Chennai, to Adyar (Thiruvanmiyur) in the Southeast on the elevated MRTS.

I wanted to ride the MRTS to listen to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on the subject of "Health and the Society." It would have been a dream to go on the elevated train to the Adyar point just opposite the venue, which was Voluntary Health Services.

Sadly, Dr. Sen's lecture was on a Saturday and for some strange reason, the Mass Rapid Transit System of Chennai does not operate between Thirumayilai (Mylapore) and Thiruvanmiyur during the weekends. What a shame.

Ultimately, I carpooled with a colleague, and a friend joined us. The only achievement we could speak of was the use of one car instead of three.

If the folks at the Indian Railways Fan Club do read this, can they campaign for the unsung MRTS, please?

I imagine that if the Railways were less greedy and more sensible, they would price their MRTS at two rupees flat for a ride, and run trains every five minutes, potentially packed to capacity.

Too bad the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad is getting so much attention for good performance without really doing anything about this train system and the "stiff upper lip" Southern Railway bureaucracy could not care less.