The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Velachery MRTS inauguration on Monday

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 15, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Velachery MRTS inauguration on Monday

S. Vydhianathan

The second phase of the project is expected to improve passenger patronage substantially

PHOTO: N. SRIDHARAN

LONG-FELT NEED: The inauguration of the MRTS between Tirumailai and Velachery comes as good news to residents frequenting the areas. A scene at the Tiruvanmiyur MRTS station in Chennai on Tuesday. —

CHENNAI: The second phase of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) between Tirumailai and Velachery will be declared open for passenger traffic by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi here on November 19.

Union Minister for Surface Transports T. R. Baalu, and Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu will participate in the function to be held in Velachery.

The inauguration will meet the long-felt need of commuters, especially those working in software firms in and around Taramani, Perungudi and Velachery, who are now largely dependent on metro transport, two-wheelers or autorickshaws for commuting.

It took nearly 36 years for the railways to complete the first two phases of the elevated project.

Three more phases — Velachery to St. Thomas Mount, St.Thomas Mount to Villivakkam and Villivakkam to Enoore — are to be completed.

The first phase covering 8.66-km distance between Chennai Beach and Tirumailai was completed at the cost of Rs 269 crore, which was fully met by the railways with the State Government giving land free of cost.

However, for the second phase of 10.8 km, both the State Government and the railways shared the cost in 2:1 ratio.

Earlier the cost of the second phase was worked out to Rs. 777 crore, which increased substantially following a delay in the implementation of the project.

In the second phase between Tirumailai and Velachery, there are eight stations: Mandaveli, Greenways Road, Kotturpuram, Kasturba Nagar, Indira Nagar, Tiruvanmiyur, Taramani and Perungudi.

The project would have been completed two years ago but for a technical problem, which almost threatened the project. The railways’ original plan was to have an elevated track from Tirumailai to Taramani and surface line from thereon to Velachery. But as the soil was soft in around Taramani and Perungudi, the railways had to go for the elevated track right up to Velachery, which took two more years for the project to complete.

The Minister of State for Railways, who recently inspected the section along with State Government officials, told newsmen that they had identified some deficiencies in the Tirumailai-Velachery section, which would be rectified soon. He said the Metro Transport Corporation had agreed to provide inter-modal services in all stations for the convenience of the commuters.

At present EMU services are available only up to Tiruvanmiyur, that too, on one track from Tirumailai to Tiruvanmiyur. After the inauguration, they will operated on both the tracks from Chennai Beach to Velachery and the frequency of services will also be considerably increased, according to a Southern Railway official.

The inauguration of the second phase would improve the passenger patronage substantially, according to the official.

MRTS Beach-Velachery Service Time Table - download (Excel format)

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