Imagine covering a distance of 17 km in just about 40 minutes. That’s what Chennai Metro Rail can do — take you all the way from Nehru Park to Chennai airport without any transit in that span of time.
This was enabled by the resumption of the direct service from Koyambedu to Chennai airport on Sunday after a brief suspension, along with the opening of the underground stretch. Over 25,000 people had travelled on the underground stretch as of 9.30 p.m. on the first day, The Thirumangalam-Nehru Park unstretch joins the Koyambedu-Chennai airport one via a ramp beyond Koyambedu. Now that it has become a direct service, commuters need not get down at Alandur station to travel to the airport.
Krishnamohan, a resident of Anna Nagar who regularly travels to Meenambakkam, said, “I was waiting for this stretch. Earlier, I would take an auto to Koyambedu and take the Metro. Now, I can board at Anna Nagar East.”
The only hitch though is that the frequency of trains from Shenoy Nagar to Nehru Park is quite less as only a single track is operational. Officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) said this was due to there being no cross-over facility at Nehru Park. “When the stretch is linked to Chennai Central by the end of the year, the frequency will improve,” an official said.
Restoring park
A portion of Shenoy Nagar, the largest station, has been built on Thiru Vi Ka Park. “We will take up landscaping work in the park soon and will restore the greenery,” a CMRL official said. A few hours after inauguration, one of the escalators at the station wasn’t working for a while but officials later said it had been set right.
CMRL offered free rides for passengers from Thirumangalam to Nehru Park till 2 p.m. B. Kalyani came all the way from Saidapet with her 12-year-old daughter. “Travelling underground is something we have never experienced. The Metro should expand fast so all can benefit,” she said.
