The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : New MRTS station coming up

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Friday, Jul 11, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

New MRTS station coming up

Staff Reporter

Located between Light House and Thirumailai stations

— Photo: K.V.Srinivasan

NEW ADDITION: The Mundagakanni Amman Koil MRTS station is expected to be completed by April.

CHENNAI: An MRTS station-Mundagakanni Amman Koil-between Thirumailai and Light House stations is being developed at a cost of Rs.35 crore. It is slated for completion in April next year.

In an interaction with mediapersons here on Thursday to discuss the progress of various MRTS projects, Chief Engineer of Metropolitan Transport Project (Railways) S.N.Agrawal said: “Though we do not build stations at such close distances [the upcoming station is just 1 km from Thirumailai], we had to heed to the representations received from several groups, including the local residents.”

The demand for this station had been there for the past six years, but it could not be met due to the presence of encroachments near the Buckingham Canal. Mr.Agrawal said the encroachments had been cleared now.

St. Thomas Mount link

On the extension of MRTS up to St. Thomas Mount, he said land in Adambakkam, occupied by 95 private buildings, must be acquired. Mr. Agrawal said he would be discussing the matter with Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority officials soon.

According to him, an EMU car shed would be ready near the Velachery station in two months. On completion, the maintenance of the all MRTS rakes would be undertaken there. They were now being sent to Avadi.

Phase III, IV shelved

With regards to the MRTS beyond St. Thomas Mount, Additional Divisional Railway Manager N. Swaminathan said the proposal had been shelved due to a clash in alignment with the Metro Rail project. Under Phase III, St. Thomas Mount was to be connected to Padi. The next phase was planned from Padi to Tiruvottiyur. “We will have to wait till the alignment of Metro Rail project is finalised,” he said.

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