As the first stretch of Chennai Metro, running overhead, gets set to go on track by March 2015, it will be two more years before the entire 45-km stretch becomes operational.
Trial runs for the first underground stretch from Koyambedu to Egmore will begin by June 2015 and it is set to be operational by December 2015, say officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL).
Around the same time, two more stretches will be commissioned — Little Mount to Airport and Alandur to St. Thomas Mount.
Tunnelling the entire underground section of about 24 km will be completed by August 2015. “While the tunnelling may be over by this time, it will take many more months to complete the remaining work on the underground alignment. So, it will be March 2017 by the time the entire 45 km network becomes operational,” says a CMRL official.
But some say, it will be mid-2016 by the time the entire underground section is tunnelled.
Meanwhile, CMRL has received sanction for the construction of phase-I extension — from Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar — at a cost of about Rs. 3,000 crore.
Also, the State has announced its plan to go ahead with phase-II of the Chennai Metro project that covers 76 km of the city. Officials are working on a detailed project report for phase II.
