St. Thomas Mount metro rail station, the biggest in the elevated corridor, and integrated with MRTS, will not be a part of the trial run nor will it be open for public use in the next six months as the construction has suffered delays, sources said.
Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) had awarded a contract of Rs. 78 crore in 2011 to Consolidated Construction Consortium Limited (CCCL) for the construction of St. Thomas Mount metro station.
One of the reasons for the delay in completion is subcontractors and workers of CCCL have not been paid for three months owing to insufficient cash flow, said a CMRL official.
CMRL had announced on Wednesday that a trial run would be conducted on the elevated corridor between Koyambedu and Alandur in February; six months after this run, the stretch may become operational.
Earlier, CMRL officials had said the trial run would be conducted on the 11-km stretch between Koyambedu and St. Thomas Mount; but since the Mount station is far from completion, it has been dropped from the trial run.
CMRL unhappy with pace of workCCCL is also responsible for the construction of other stations, including CMBT, Koyambedu, Arumbakkam, Vadapalani, Ashok Nagar and Alandur, in the elevated corridor of the Rs. 14,600-crore Chennai Metro project.
CMRL officials have expressed their displeasure with the pace of construction work at these sites too and said some stations have hardly any workers.
Recently, CMRL had even made an advance payment to help CCCL.
According to a CCCL official, however, CMRL held up payment for five months which resulted in salary dues. Last week, CCCL began paying the dues, and it will be finished soon, said an official of the company.
