The Hindu Business Line : Tiruvanmiyur-Velachery MRTS service opened

Chennai, Nov. 19 After a delay of over a year and cost escalation of around Rs 15 crore, the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) service between Tiruvanmiyur and Velachery was inaugurated today.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, inaugurated the service. The project cost for the 11.06-km stretch was Rs 771.50 crore shared between the Indian Railways and the State Government in the ratio of 1:2.

Looking Ahead

Mr R. Velu, Minister of State for Railways, said the MRTS phase II ends at Velachery, and it is now proposed to extend the services up to St Thomas Mount, about 5 km from Velachery. The RITES Ltd (Rail India Technical and Economic Services), consultants to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, carried out a detailed study and submitted its survey for the alignment.

The cost of the project will be Rs 496 crore, and will be shared between the Indian Railways and the State Government in the ratio of 1:2 respectively.

Mr Velu urged the State Government to also look at the extension of the MRTS from St Thomas Mount to Villivakkam and Ennore to make it a circular route.

Greater Frequency

There will be a train service between the Chennai Beach and Velachery once every 15 minutes.

Earlier, there was a service once an hour during non-peak hours and once every 35-45 minutes during peak hours. The new stretch, an extension of the Chennai Beach-Tiruvanmiyur service, will help employees working in several information technology companies in and around Velachery and Taramani. The service will also decongest city roads, Mr Velu said.

Project delay

The delay in the project was due to the ‘subsoil strata’ between Perungudi and Velachery. This was overcome by providing tracks on ‘PSC’ girders supported by piles anchored on rocks in certain stretches, covering a length of 850 m, between Perungudi and Velachery stations, which were to have surface system originally.

A key feature of the Thirumayilai-Velachery project was the laying of ballast-less tracks on the elevated stretch, which obviates the need for carrying out frequent maintenance works on the track, says a Southern Railway press release.