Chennai Metro Rail Limited to prepare feasibility and project report for the 15.5 km stretch

To address increasing traffic congestion on the Tambaram-Velachery corridor, the Tamil Nadu government will establish a rail-based transit system for a total of 15.5 km and Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) will prepare the Detailed Feasibility and Project Report, Governor Banwarilal Purohit said on Monday.

In his address in the Legislative Assembly, he said that Phase-I of the Chennai Metro Rail (45 km), was fully operational and the Phase-I extension up to Thiruvottiyur/Wimco Nagar would be completed by mid-2020. The government has already approved the implementation of three more Chennai Metro Rail corridors in Phase-II with a total length of 118.9 km, at an estimated cost of ₹69,180 crore.

“I urge the Centre to accord early approval for their participation in the Phase-II project on the 50:50 equity sharing model adopted for Phase-I,” the Governor said. Based on a feasibility study, the State government has decided to extend the Metro Rail Corridor by 15.3 km from Chennai Airport to Kilambakkam, where a new mofussil bus stand was coming up.

The Tamil Nadu government has also proposed to enter into a ‘Chennai City Partnership’ as a unique model of development co-operation with the World Bank with a goal to integrate the multiple transportation modes in Chennai and enable the seamless mobility of people in the city.