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N. Ramakrishnan

Chennai, Jan. 6 The metro rail system for Chennai, work on which is scheduled to begin in the next few months, will connect with the existing suburban railway networks for the city and also with all the points where large inter-city traffic is generated – the airport, the Central and Egmore railway stations which handle long distance trains, and the mofussil bus terminus.

The Tamil Nadu Government, which has formed a company to execute and manage the project, is keen that a unified metropolitan transport authority is in place by the time services are operated on the metro rail system, some time in 2013-14.

With the unified metropolitan transport authority in place, a commuter can hop from any one of the railway networks on to another or on to a public transport bus operated by the Government owned corporation, using the same ticket.

It is with this approach to urban public transport in mind that the Government has finalised the two corridors – Washermanpet to the Airport and Fort to St Thomas Mount – on which work will start within this financial year, according to officials associated with the project.

Currently, the suburban railway networks – be it the one going to the southern suburbs of the city or the ones operating to the northern and western industrial suburbs or the mass rapid transit system – do not provide commuters the scope to change over from one system. They have been designed as standalone systems and hence serve a limited purpose in easing congestion on roads, say urban planning experts.

In comparison, commuters on the Washermanpet to Airport metro line can switch over to the Beach-Tambaram suburban line at Guindy, or from the MRTS to the metro line at St Thomas Mount, or link from the Fort to St Thomas Mount metro line to the suburban lines to the northern and western suburbs at Central, or those planning to board long-distance buses or alighting from them at the mofussil bus terminus in Koyambedu can use the Fort to St Thomas Mount metro line.

According to the officials, design and pre-construction activities for the two corridors will start in the next few months with actual construction beginning in 2008-09. The Government is keen to compress the time taken to complete the project to six years, which, it believes, will be a record of sorts as far as such large urban transportation projects are concerned.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which has completed the first phase of the rail project for Delhi, has drawn up the project report and is also the consultant for Chennai Metro Rail Ltd, the company floated by the Tamil Nadu Government. The State Government has appointed Mr Syed Muneer Hoda, a career bureaucrat as Chairman of the new company. DMRC will be closely associated with the project right through, according to the officials.

The project cost has been estimated at Rs 9,757 crore, 40 per cent of which will come as equity and the balance as long-term debt. The Centre and the Tamil Nadu Government will equally share the equity component while the State Government is confident of getting 30- or 40-year yen-denominated loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. It also plans to approach other funding agencies for debt.

According to the officials, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation studied seven high density transportation corridors and decided on two routes in the first phase. The third phase is likely to link the shopping district of T. Nagar with any one of the two metro lines. Part of the metro line will be underground and the other on elevated structures. All along the arterial Anna Salai, the metro line will be underground, according to the officials.

The cost per km of underground line could be anything up to Rs 300 crore, while it will be up to Rs 100 crore a km for the elevated portion, officials said. About 20 km of the 46-km planned in the first phase will be underground and the remaining on elevated structures.

More Stories on : Railways | Urban Development | Tamil Nadu

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